Severe storm watches issued for Jamaica and Caymans, Patty becomes a tropical storm near Azores

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Severe storm watches issued for Jamaica and Caymans, Patty becomes a tropical storm near Azores

2024-11-04 17:16 Last Updated At：17:20

MIAMI (AP) — A hurricane watch for the Cayman Islands and a tropical storm warning for Jamaica were issued as a weather system in the Caribbean is expected to strengthen this week, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

On the opposite side of the Atlantic, Patty transitioned from subtropical to a tropical storm located about 380 miles (615 kilometers) east of the Azores early Monday, the hurricane center reported.

The northwestern Caribbean storm system was expected to become a hurricane and could bring heavy rainfall to Cuba and Florida and possibly the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico later this week, the center said early Monday morning.

“Potential Tropical Cyclone Eighteen” was located about 275 miles (445 kilometers) south of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 465 miles (745 kilometers) southeast of Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) while moving north at 6 mph (9 kph), the center said.

A hurricane is defined as a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained surface winds of 74 mph (119.1 kph) or greater. A tropical storm has maximum sustained winds of 39 mph (62.8 kph) up to 73 mph (117.5 kph).

The storm was expected to be near Jamaica by late Monday and the Cayman Islands on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the center, which urged residents in Cuba and the Florida Keys to monitor the storm's progress.

Heavy rainfall will affect the western Caribbean with totals of 3 to 6 inches (76 to 152 mm) and up to 9 inches (229 mm) expected locally in Jamaica and southern Cuba. Flooding and mudslides are possible in those nations.

Heavy rains will reach Florida and adjacent areas of the southeast U.S. by mid- to late-week, the center said.

Tropical Storm Patty had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) while moving east at 20 mph (31 kph), the hurricane center said, noting in a 3 a.m. advisory that Patty is forecast to become post-tropical in the coming days near the Azores, an island chain about 800 miles (1,287 kilometers) off Portugal.

Stocks quake after Trump threatens to escalate tariffs despite seeing how much Wall Street hates it

2025-04-08 03:25 Last Updated At：03:30

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are careening through a manic Monday after President Donald Trump threatened to crank his tariffs higher, despite a stunning display from Wall Street showing how dearly it wants him to do the opposite.

The S&P 500 was down 0.8% in late trading, but only after a shocking day of heart-racing reversals as battered financial markets try to figure out what Trump’s ultimate goal is for his trade war. If it’s to get other countries to agree to trade deals, he could lower his tariffs and avoid a possible recession. But if it’s to remake the economy and stick with tariffs for the long haul, stock prices may need to fall further.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 563 points, or 1.5%, with a little less than an hour remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower.

All three indexes started the day sharply lower, and the Dow plunged as many as 1,700 points following even worse losses worldwide on worries that Trump's tariffs could torpedo the global economy. But it suddenly surged to a gain of nearly 900 points. The S&P 500, meanwhile, went from a loss of 4.7% to a leap of 3.4%, which would have been its biggest jump in years.

The sudden rise followed a false rumor that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on his tariffs, one that a White House account on X quickly labeled as “fake news.” Stocks then turned back down. That a rumor could move trillions of dollars' worth of investments shows how much investors are hoping to see signs that Trump may let up on tariffs.

But soon after that, Trump threatened to raise tariffs further against China after the world's second-largest economy retaliated last week with its own set of tariffs on U.S. products.

It’s a slap in the face to Wall Street, not just because of the sharp losses it’s taking, but because it suggests Trump may not be moved by its pain. Many professional investors had long thought that a president who used to crow about records reached under his watch would pull back on policies if they sent the Dow reeling.

On Sunday Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he does not want markets to fall. But he also said he wasn’t concerned about a sell-off, saying “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”

Trump has given several reasons for his stiff tariffs, including to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, which is a process that could take years. Trump on Sunday said he wanted to bring down the numbers for how much more the United States imports from other countries versus how much it sends to them.

Still, indexes kept swerving between losses and gains Monday, even after Trump threatened to raise his tariffs, because hope still remains in markets that negotiations may still come.

“Could things get worse? Of course they could," said Nate Thooft, a senior portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management. “We’re not calling the all-clear at all, but when you have this type of volatility in the market, of course you're going to have back and forth” in markets not just day to day but also hour to hour.

“We’re all waiting for the next bit of information,” he said. “Literally a Truth Social tweet or an announcement of some sort about real negotiations could dramatically move this market. This is the world we live in right now.”

All that seems to be certain is that the financial pain hammered investments around the world on Monday, the third straight day of steep losses after Trump announced tariffs in his “Liberation Day.”

Stocks in Hong Kong plunged 13.2% for their worst day since 1997. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil dipped below $60 during the morning for the first time since 2021, hurt by worries that a global economy weakened by trade barriers will burn less fuel. Bitcoin sank below $79,000, down from its record above $100,000 set in January, after holding steadier than other markets last week.

Nike dropped 4% for one of the larger losses on Wall Street. Not only does it sell a lot of shoes and apparel in China, it also makes much of it there. Last fiscal year, factories in China made 18% of its Nike brand footwear. Vietnam made 50%, and Indonesia made 27%.

Trump’s tariffs are an attack on the globalization that’s remade the world’s economy, which helped bring down prices for products on the shelves of U.S. stores but also caused production jobs to leave for other countries.

It also adds pressure on the Federal Reserve. Investors have become nearly conditioned to expect the central bank to swoop in as a hero by slashing interest rates during downturns.

But the Fed may have less freedom to act this time around because the conditions are so much different. That's cheifly because inflation is higher at the moment than the Fed would like. And while lower interest rates can goose the economy, they can also put upward pressure on inflation. Expectations for inflation are already swinging higher because of Trump’s tariffs, which would likely raise prices for anything imported.

“The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, one of the most influential executives on Wall Street, wrote in his annual letter to shareholders Monday. “Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth.”

In the bond market, Treasury yields rallied Monday to recover some of their sharp drops from earlier weeks. Some of the big move may have been because of reduced expectations for cuts to interest rates by the Fed. Some analysts also said it could be due to investors outside of the United States wanting to pare their U.S. investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 4.14% from 4.01% late Friday.

Earlier in the day, the S&P 500 briefly fell more than 20% below its record set less than two months ago. If it finishes a day below that bar, it would be a big enough drop that Wall Street has a name for it. A “bear market” signifies a downturn that’s moved beyond a run-of-the-mill 10% drop, which happens every year or so, and has graduated into something more vicious.

The S&P 500, which sits at the heart of many investors’ 401(k) accounts, is coming off its worst week since COVID began crashing the global economy in March 2020.

Kurtenbach reported from Bangkok. McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany. Associated Press writers Ayaka McGill, Paul Harloff, Matt Ott and Jiang Junzhe also contributed.