The Dow fell 155.83 points (0.4%) to 40,368,96, the S&P 500 dipped 9.34 points (0.2%) to 5,396.63 and the Nasdaq edged down 8.32 points (0.1%) to 16,823.17.
President Donald Trump has indicated a potential temporary tariff exemption for the auto industry, especially for counties like Mexico and Canada. At the same time, there were reports that the U.S. was kicking off investigations into imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as part of a bid to impose tariffs.
Labor Department released a report showing import prices edged slightly lower in the month of March. It also said the import prices slipped by 0.1% in March after rising by a downwardly revised 0.2% in February. the report said export prices were flat in March after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.5% in February.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a new report showing manufacturing activity has declined modestly in the month of April. Most of the major sectors ended with modest moves while banking stocks were notably strong, resulting in a 1.7% gain by the KBW Bank Index. Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) ended the day firmly positive after reporting better than expected first quarter results. Networking stocks also saw some strength on the day while transportation stocks moved to the downside, dragging the Dow Jones Transportation Average down by 1.1%.
Asia-Pacific stocks moved mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.8%, while China's Shanghai Composite Index crept up by 0.2%. The major European markets too moved upwards while the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.9%, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both jumped by 1.4%.
In the bond market, treasuries saw continued strength following the notable rebound seen on Monday. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 4.1 bps to 4.32%.