Mumbai, April 16 -- The Dow fell 155.83 points (0.4%) to 40,368,96, the S&P 500 dipped 9.34 points (0.2%) to 5,396.63 and the Nasdaq edged down 8.32 points (0.1%) to 16,823.17.

President Donald Trump has indicated a potential temporary tariff exemption for the auto industry, especially for counties like Mexico and Canada. At the same time, there were reports that the U.S. was kicking off investigations into imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as part of a bid to impose tariffs.

Labor Department released a report showing import prices edged slightly lower in the month of March. It also said the import prices slipped by 0.1% in March after rising by a downwardly revised 0.2% in February. the report said export prices were flat i...