Bitcoin (BTC) price reaches a daily high of $86429

US stocks wavered as tariff fears continued to weigh on the market. The U.S. made little progress on tariff negotiations.

US stocks were trading in a narrow range on Tuesday as fears over tariffs continued to weigh on the market.

The S&P 500 opened at 2.20 or 0.04% to reach 5,408.17 by 12:18 PM ET (16:18 GMT). The DOW Jones was down 16.43 points or 0.04%, trading at 40,508, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 0.06% or 10.76 points, trading at 16,822.73.

At the same time, Bitcoin saw gains, with volatility outpacing stocks.

On Tuesday, April 15, Bitcoin (BTC) reached a daily high of $86,429 before consolidating to $84,949, registering a 0.47% daily price increase.

As of 12:24 PM ET (16:24 GMT), Bitcoin was trading at $84,949, showing a 0.47 percent increase over the past 24 hours.

U.S. trade war still weighs on the markets

While the 90-day tariff pause brought much-needed relief to the markets, there are still lingering concerns over its longevity.

The U.S. is making little progress in its tariff negotiations with key trading partners, raising the possibility of historic tariff rates returning.

The EU expects the 25% tariffs on all exports to the bloc to remain in place as part of a trade war, even though talks to eliminate them have stalled, Bloomberg reports.

The EU proposed a “zero-for-zero” agreement for all industrial exports but the U.S. rejected the offer.

The Trump administration believes that most foreign jurisdictions, including the EU, use non-tariff barriers to discourage exports. However, this significantly complicates negotiations for all parties.

Theoretically, industry subsidies, consumer protection standards, food safety laws, and even VAT taxes are on the negotiating table. For this reason, it is not clear whether the U.S. can secure these deals by the 90-day deadline.

Talks with China are also deadlocked, with some relief coming from Trump’s decision to exempt smartphones from the 145% tariffs on Chinese goods. These smartphones, which Chinese firms make for companies including Apple, would be subject to a different rate.