The sell-off on Wall Street intensified Thursday as investors grappled with uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s tariffs and mixed signals from the White House. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 400 points, while the S&P 500 dropped nearly 2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plummeted more than 2.6%, officially entering correction territory by falling over 10% from its December record high.
Shares of chipmakers like Marvell, Nvidia, Broadcom, and AMD led the retreat amid concerns about slowing demand for AI technology. President Trump announced a pause on tariffs for some Mexican and Canadian goods, but the lack of clarity regarding the scope of the exemptions unsettled investors. “These exemptions don’t do much to resolve the general air of uncertainty,” said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment officer at BMO Wealth Management.
Economic data also weighed on market sentiment. Weekly jobless claims came in better than expected, but a recent streak of soft data has raised concerns about stalling US economic growth. A key jobs report set for release Friday morning could provide further insight.
Wall Street rattled by tariff fears
“I think if we see the hard data start to come in much weaker, that’ll become more and more concerning for the market,” said Rob Haworth, a senior investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management. Extreme fear has been driving investor sentiment for the past week.
US employers announced plans to slash 172,017 jobs last month, the highest February total since 2009, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The cuts were driven in part by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) actions and trade fears. Gap was a bright spot, rallying 8% in post-market trading after beating profit estimates and indicating it could withstand tariff impacts better than other retailers.
Broadcom also saw shares rise 10% on better-than-expected quarterly results. However, the overall market jitters persisted. The S&P 500 experienced wild swings reminiscent of August 2024, with a 2% movement in six straight sessions signaling heightened chaos similar to previous periods of economic concern.
As Stuart Kaiser from Citi noted, the upcoming jobs report represents a “pretty significant risk to the market.” Investors will be closely watching for further signs of weakness in the US economy amid the ongoing trade tensions and tech sector turbulence.
