Matt Metzger, a Marine Corps combat veteran, harvests and places Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms into a dehydrator to prepare for microdosing Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Olympia, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
The S&P 500 finished the day nearly unchanged after edging down by less than 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 54 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%.Gap weighed on the market even though the retailer reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
The company behind Banana Republic and Old Navy fell 20.2% after saying tariffs on imports from China and other countries could add up to $300 million to its costs this fiscal year. It has strategies set to mitigate up to half of that before it hits its profits.The AP’s Seth Sutel reports markets ended May on a positive note.This week and month on Wall Street have been dominated by questions about what will happen with Trump’s tariffs, which investors worry could grind the economy into a recession, slash companies’ profits and layer even more challenges on households already sick of inflation.
Hopes had largely been rising that the worst of such worries had passed, which in turn sent stocks rallying, after Trump paused his tariffs on both. It all sent the S&P 500 in May to its first winning month in four and its best since November.
But the tariffs remain in place for now while the White House appeals the ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the ultimate outcome is still uncertain.
Trump also briefly shook markets shortly before Wall Street opened for trading Friday, when he accused China of not living up to its end of the agreement that paused their tariffs against each other., which is associated with the Chinese Ministry of State Security, was behind the campaign.
It was not immediately clear what specific information were seized or what damage was caused by the attacks. The Czech ministry said a new communication system has already been put in place.Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said in a separate statement that his ministry summoned China’s ambassador to Prague to make it clear to Beijing “that such activities have serious impacts on mutual relations.”
“The government of the Czech Republic strongly condemns this malicious cyber campaign against its critical infrastructure,” the statement said. “Such behavior undermines the credibility of the People’s Republic of China and contradicts its public declarations.”The Chinese Embassy dismissed the Czech accusations as “groundless.” It said China fights “all forms of cyber attacks and does not support, promote or tolerate hacker attacks.”