(March 26): The benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined in choppy trading on Wednesday, with investors exercising caution as they awaited economic data and clarity on the Trump administration's fresh tariffs that are expected to take effect next week.

US equities experienced a brief reprieve over the last two sessions, following President Donald Trump's indication that not all tariffs would be enforced by the April 2 deadline, with certain nations potentially being granted exemptions—though specifics remain elusive.

This offered a semblance of stability to Wall Street, with the trio of major indices touching two-week highs earlier in the week. The S&P has ascended over 4% since its mid-March lows, while the Nasdaq has advanced roughly 6%.

Nevertheless, ambiguity surrounding the magnitude of US tariffs, the likelihood of retaliatory measures from trading partners, and the potential repercussions on the global economy and businesses have kept investors vigilant.

Adding to the unease, Barclays revised its S&P 500 target downward to 5,900 points from 6,600 due to uncertainty surrounding Trump's tariffs.

"The market is now on hold. [Trump's softened tariff stance] seems to have made a temporary relief," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

Investors "are going to be sensitive to tariffs ... the White House keeps changing its position, creating uncertainty."

At 9.58am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 141.3 points, or 0.33%, to 42,728.8, the S&P 500 lost 19.38 points, or 0.34%, to 5,757.73 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 179.23 points, or 0.98%, to 18,092.63.

The S&P 500 was weighed down by heavy-weight growth stocks. Tesla fell 3.2%, Nvidia dropped 3.5% and Alphabet declined 1.5%.

On the other hand, an index that assigns an equal weight to all companies on the benchmark index .SPXEW edged up 0.3%.

Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors advanced, led by energy's 1.3% rise. Crude prices climbed as investors priced in tighter global supply following the US threat of tariffs on nations buying Venezuelan oil. 

The main focus of this week will be the personal consumption expenditures price index — the Federal Reserve's favoured inflation gauge — due on Friday.

Concerns around inflation have pushed consumer confidence to its lowest in over four years, while analysts have said that a prolonged slump in dealmaking activity is likely to spark a wave of job cuts on Wall Street.

Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee said that it may take longer than anticipated for the next cut because of economic uncertainty, according to a report.

Speeches from policymakers including Neel Kashkari and Alberto Musalem are anticipated later in the day.

Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq tumbled 10% from their respective record highs earlier this month — a phenomenon known as a correction.

Dollar Tree rose 3.8% after the discount-retail chain said it is nearing a sale of its Family Dollar business to a consortium of private equity investors for about US$1 billion (RM4.44 billion).

Excluding the Family Dollar banner, the company reported quarterly net sales marginally higher than the previous year's figure.

GameStop jumped 9.8% following its board's unanimous approval to incorporate bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.04-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.42-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 20 new highs and 70 new lows.

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