Finance

Wealthy consumers up spending while the rest of America cuts back

Published

4 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Shoppers walk through the King of Prussia Mall, as global markets brace for a hit to trade and growth caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose import tariffs on dozens of countries, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S., April 3, 2025.

Rachel Wisniewski | Reuters

America, at the start of 2025, is a tale of two consumers.

Lower-income earners are reining in their transactions to focus on essentials, while the wealthy continue to spend freely on perks including dining out and luxury travel, according to first-quarter results from U.S. credit card lenders.

As anxiety from the opening salvos of President Donald Trump‘s trade policies rippled through the country in recent months, investors and economists have wondered whether declines in consumer sentiment would spill into the real economy. There are some early signs of stress among those who are already more economically vulnerable.

For instance, at Synchrony, which provides store cards for retail brands including Lowe’s and T.J. Maxx, spending fell 4% in the first three months of the year, the company said last week.

That compares to a 6% spending jump at American Express and a similar rise at JPMorgan Chase, both of which cater to wealthier users with higher credit scores than Synchrony. AmEx said its customers spent 7% more on dining and 11% more on first class and business class airfare than a year earlier.

While the “consumer is still in pretty good shape” overall, they are “being selective around how they spend,” Synchrony CEO Brian Doubles told analysts on April 22.

Lower-income card users in particular “started tapering their spend about a year ago,” pulling back on discretionary and big ticket expenses as inflation ate into their buying power, Doubles said.

Falling behind

More Americans were already falling into debt while using their credit cards in the fourth quarter. The share of credit card users making only minimum monthly payments rose to 11.1%, the highest level in 12 years, according Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia data released this month.

But so far, credit card lenders catering to wealthier customers have been insulated from concerns about how tariffs, inflation and a possible recession later this year could impact consumer spending.

“It’s fair to say that the high end has held up better, and the low end has pulled back more,” Brian Foran, a Truist analyst covering banks, said in an email. “It’s been a common theme both speaking to credit card companies, and hearing from most of my colleagues covering consumer and retail.”

The split was also visible at Citigroup, a major player in the credit industry. While spending in the division that provides cards for retailers fell 5% in the quarter, plastic that carries the bank’s own brand — a cohort with higher credit scores — saw spending rise 3%.

Both Citigroup and Bread Financial, another provider of store and co-branded cards like Synchrony, said that consumer behavior shifted toward essentials and away from travel and entertainment on concern that tariffs would raise prices for some goods.

The dynamic boosts spending now, but it could mean weaker demand in the future.

“Consumers are buying more electronics, home furnishing, auto parts,” Bread CFO Perry Beberman said last week.

People are “trying to figure out, are they still going to buy that big TV or are they going to make some other choices if inflation comes through at some of the rates they could,” Beberman said. “That’s the real wildcard here.”

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The worst (and best) stocks during Trump’s tough first 100 days

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Finance

Trump’s first 100 days are the worst for the stock market since Nixon

Published

6 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Business Finance News

U.S. President Donald Trump is displayed on a television screen as traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on April 7, 2025 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office are the worst for the stock market for the start of a president’s four-year term since the 1970s.

The S&P 500’s 7.9% drop from when Trump was sworn into office on Jan. 20 through the April 25 close, is the second worst first 100-day performance going back to the beginning of President Richard Nixon’s second term, according to CFRA Research. Nixon saw the S&P 500 tumble 9.9% in 1973, after a series of economic measures he took to combat inflation resulted in the 1973 to 1975 recession. Nixon would later resign in 1974 because of the Watergate scandal.

On average, the S&P 500 rises 2.1% in the first 100 days for any president, in data of post-election years going from 1944 through 2020, CFRA showed.

The severity of the stock drawdown to start Trump’s presidency stands in marked contrast to the initial euphoria following his November election victory, when the S&P 500 surged to all-time highs amid confidence the former businessman would bring about much hoped for tax cuts and deregulation. From Election Day to Inauguration Day, the S&P 500 advanced 3.7%, CFRA data shows.

The rally sputtered and then dove sharply as Trump used his early days in office to push forth other campaign promises that investors had taken less seriously, particularly an aggressive approach to trade that many worry will raise inflation and push the U.S. into a recession.

In April, the S&P 500 took a nosedive, losing 10% in just two days and briefly entering bear market territory, following Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff announcement. Trump then walked back part of that announcement, giving countries a 90-day pause to renegotiate deals, that soothed some of investors’ concerns. Many worry there’s further downside ahead.

“Everyone’s looking for this bottom here,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, editor of the Stock Trader’s Almanac. “I’m still thinking it’s a bear market rally, a near term bounce kind of thing. I’m not convinced we’re out of the woods yet, with the lack of clarity and continuing uncertainty in Washington.”

S&P 500 since Jan. 17 close

The S&P 500, which reached a closing high of 6,144.15 on Feb. 19, closed Friday at 5,525.21. It has erased all post-election gains from November.

To be sure, Trump has two more trading days to cut his losses. His first 100 days technically end on Tuesday. If the S&P 500 rallies this week, he could get close to the third worst start — the 6.9% decline during the first 100 days of George W. Bush in 2001.