Powell warns + tariff swings US stocks retail investors are cautious

Against the backdrop of US President Trump continuously adjusting tariff policies, bullish sentiment among investors fell this week. The weekly survey conducted by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) ending on April 16 showed that the proportion of bearish investors (those expecting the market to go down in the next six months) decreased from 58.9% last week to 56.9%. At the same time, the proportion of bullish investors decreased from 28.5% last week to 25.4% this week. The proportion of investors taking a neutral position (expecting stock prices to remain relatively stable in the next six months) increased from 12.5% last week to 17.7%. This weekly survey conducted by AAII since 1987 mainly collects respondents' expectations for the market trend in the next six months. Last week, Trump announced a 90-day suspension of most reciprocal tariffs except for China, triggering one of the strongest intraday rebounds in Wall Street history. The S&P 500 index recorded its largest single-day gain since the 2008 financial crisis, while the Nasdaq Composite Index reported its second largest single-day gain in history. However, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's comments on Wednesday poured cold water on the market. He warned that tariffs "are very likely to at least temporarily push up inflation" and drag down economic growth, a statement that clearly affected investor sentiment. In the past week, the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones index rose slightly by 0.15% and 0.19% respectively, while the Nasdaq index fell by 0.5%.