The S&P 500 index was worse for the wear on Friday as the stock market continued to absorb the effects of President Donald Trump’s trade war. Market volatility has persisted since last week, when Trump announced massive tariffs during his Liberation Day event.
Those tariffs went into effect earlier this week before Trump put an almost immediate 90-day hold on them to allow time for negotiations with affected countries. One major exception was China, which now has a 145% tariff on all U.S. imports. China retaliated against this act by placing a 125% tariff on imports from the U.S.
Investor confidence was low on Friday as economic uncertainty and recession fears increased. That weighed on the S&P 500 index and dragged the S&P 500 down 0.61% in morning trading. That built on a 9.74% drop year-to-date.
Which Stocks Hit the S&P 500 Index the Hardest?
Using the TipRanks S&P 500 heatmap tool, traders will see which stocks have the index down today. The consumer cyclical sector is mostly red today, as are the industrial and utilities sectors. Sectors that still have a fair bit of green to them include technology and communication services, but it’s not enough to keep the SPX out of the red.
How to Best Invest in the S&P 500 Index
Traders have a few options for taking a stake in the S&P 500. That includes buying individual stocks listed in the index. However, this requires investors to track a large number of stocks, potentially overwhelming them with data. A simpler option is buying shares of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the index, such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust has a consensus Moderate Buy rating, based on the ratings of the 504 stocks held in it. With that comes an average price target of $616.20, representing a potential 17.82% upside.
