The US stock market took a hit on Friday as the White House reaffirmed President Donald Trump’s plan to implement tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports and Chinese imports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 340 points, or 0.8%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.
Nvidia, a Silicon Valley giant with significant dealings in China, was among the biggest losers, with its stock value plummeting by $553 billion since last Friday. The company’s record-breaking losses were due to concerns over DeepSeek’s innovative cheaper AI model, which cast doubt on continued massive spending on Nvidia’s AI processors.
Despite this, January has been a historically strong month for the market, with the Dow up nearly 5% and the S&P almost 3%. This makes it the best January return since 2019 and the best inauguration month return since 2013.
Analysts say that while Nvidia’s losses may be a concern, cheaper AI models can actually boost the stock market as companies across the board benefit from AI-powered productivity gains. Solita Marcelli, UBS Global Wealth Management’s chief investment officer, Americas, noted that “new, lower-cost algorithms” will lead to increased economic productivity, supporting the broader equity market.
Some of this month’s biggest winners and losers include Constellation Energy (up 34%), GE Aerospace (up 22%), Facebook parent Meta (up 18%), Royal Caribbean (up 15%), IBM (up 14%), and UPS (down 15%).
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2025/01/31/stocks-give-up-gains-as-tariffs-loom-nvidias-deepseek-selloff-balloons-back-to-500-billion