U.S. financial markets woke up to a jolt on February 23, 2026, as President Donald Trump’s surprise move to hike global tariffs from 10% to 15% sent shockwaves through stocks, commodities, and currencies worldwide. The sudden escalation, which came just days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down much of Trump’s earlier “reciprocal” tariff program, left investors scrambling to make sense of a rapidly shifting trade landscape and the legal uncertainty now enveloping U.S. economic policy.
The latest tariff maneuver was executed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a little-used legal lever that allows the president to impose temporary duties for up to 150 days without congressional approval. According to Eurasia Business News, this new measure is a broad, temporary overlay to existing tariffs—many of which, such as those on steel, autos, and Chinese goods, remain in place under other statutes. While the headline rate jumped by five percentage points, the effective average tariff rose by about two points due to exemptions, but the impact on sentiment was immediate.
Stock futures for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all tumbled between 0.3% and 0.6% in early trading, with the selloff intensifying as the day wore on. As The Economic Times reported, “U.S. stocks tumbled Monday after President Trump hiked global tariffs from 10% to 15%, wiping out Friday’s Supreme Court relief rally and sending gold surging past $5,200.” The bounce that markets enjoyed after the Supreme Court’s decision was short-lived, replaced by a renewed sense of unpredictability that has come to define Wall Street’s relationship with trade policy since 2018.
“The push and pull with tariffs is likely to be a distracting theme for markets for the remainder of the year,” said Michael Landsberg, CIO at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management, as quoted by The Economic Times. He added, “we may be back at the Supreme Court before year-end.”
Investors are now staring at a 150-day countdown clock. Trump’s Section 122 authority will expire in late July, at which point Congress must decide whether to extend or terminate the tariffs. This looming deadline is expected to keep volatility elevated as traders and executives alike try to anticipate Washington’s next moves.
Gold, the classic safe-haven asset, surged to a three-week high of $5,170.00 on April futures, while spot prices briefly crossed $5,204—a 2.42% single-day gain, according to Eurasia Business News and The Economic Times. Silver also shot up to $86.345, a two-week high. These moves were interpreted as investors seeking shelter from policy and inflation shocks. “Safe-haven demand is featured in the two metals as the new U.S. tariff regime has thrown new uncertainty into the marketplace,” Eurasia Business News observed.
Yet not all traditional hedges behaved as expected. Bitcoin, often touted as a digital safe haven, fell below $65,000 intraday—a drop of over 2.6%. The Nasdaq Crypto Index lost 3.38%. As The Economic Times noted, “Crypto often behaves like a risk asset during macroeconomic shocks. When uncertainty rises and liquidity tightens, traders reduce exposure to volatile assets. Unlike gold, Bitcoin did not act as a safe haven today.”
Commodities markets flashed mixed signals. Oil prices edged higher, with WTI crude up 0.77% to $66.99 and Brent crude rising 0.71% to $71.16. Natural gas also ticked up. These gains reflected a blend of supply-demand dynamics and inflation expectations, as higher tariffs on imported goods could feed into broader price pressures.
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the core PCE price index, stood at 3% year-on-year. This persistent inflation, combined with the new tariffs, is likely to keep the case for “higher for longer” interest rates alive, as highlighted by Simply Wall St. Rate-sensitive sectors like technology and small caps came under particular strain, with investors weighing whether growth-focused or more defensive stocks would fare better in this environment.
Indeed, the day’s trading produced clear winners and losers. According to Simply Wall St, Corning (GLW) rose 7.32% after strong recent performance, while Comfort Systems USA (FIX) gained 6.46% on robust earnings. Arcellx (ACLX) surged an eye-popping 77.77% thanks to positive clinical data, and Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA) jumped 45.48%. Nvidia (NVDA), a bellwether for AI-driven demand, managed a 1.59% gain to $192.83, suggesting some resilience in the chip sector.
But the pain was acute elsewhere. Nebius Group (NBIS) dropped 9.00%, CoreWeave (CRWV) fell 8.12% amid AI data center worries, and Cloudflare (NET) lost 8.05%. Novo Nordisk (NVO), the maker of GLP-1 drugs, cratered by 14.39% on pricing pressures, while Gossamer Bio (GOSS) plummeted 77.47%.
Internationally, the tariff escalation drew sharp responses. European officials warned that the new duties put transatlantic trade deals at risk, with the European Commission stating that current conditions are “not conducive” to fair and balanced trade. Calls for clarity from Washington were swift, and the possibility of renegotiating existing agreements now looms over the already fragile relationship between the U.S. and its allies.
The sense of “legal and policy fog” is palpable. The Supreme Court’s intervention, followed by Trump’s rapid pivot to a new legal authority, has left businesses and investors uncertain about the rules of the road. As Eurasia Business News put it, “the Supreme Court ruling plus Trump’s workaround create a sense of ‘legal and policy fog’ around U.S. trade, making planning harder for businesses and foreign investors even if the macro impact is not catastrophic.”
For companies that rely on global supply chains, the new tariffs mean higher input costs and squeezed margins. Import-heavy retailers, manufacturers, automakers, and some semiconductor and industrial firms face the brunt of the pain. On the other hand, domestically focused small caps, U.S. energy and materials producers, and firms benefiting from on-shoring or trade diversion may find themselves relatively insulated—or even advantaged—in this new regime.
Looking ahead, several key events are on investors’ radars. Upcoming earnings from mega-cap tech names like Nvidia and Salesforce, as well as consumer bellwethers like Home Depot, will provide critical reads on how companies are navigating the turbulence. Meanwhile, the next inflation report will be closely watched: if tariffs push consumer prices higher, the Federal Reserve may have even less room to cut rates, a scenario that could further weigh on equities.
With the 150-day window for Trump’s tariff authority ticking down, and Congress set to take up the question in late July, the only certainty for markets is more uncertainty. As policy unpredictability once again takes center stage, investors will need to stay nimble, alert, and—perhaps above all—ready for more surprises from Washington.