U.S. stock indexes ended mixed Wednesday, closing out a chaotic month for equity markets following President Donald Trump's ever-changing tariff policies and growing recession fears. The S&P 500 gained 0.15% Wednesday while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.35% at close. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.09%.
After a turbulent start to the month, stocks had posted a recent recovery over the past few days as Trump administration officials hinted at the possibility of reaching trade deals that that could cool an ongoing trade war. But news of the economy's 0.3% Q1 contraction—which came before the full effects of April's tariffs are even accounted for—sent indexes tumbling early Wednesday as recession fears increased, though the S&P and Dow Jones recovered by the end of the trading day.
