The stock market experienced significant volatility and losses Monday as investors grappled with the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 350 points, or 0.9%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.2% and the Nasdaq inched up 0.1%. The losses were smaller than the dramatic drops at the opening bell.
The Dow plunged 1,320 points, or 3.4%, shortly after markets opened, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped 3.9% and 4.2%, respectively. In a whirlwind session, all three indexes briefly reversed to massive gains following an unsubstantiated claim on social media suggesting the White House would pause the tariffs for 90 days. The S&P rose more than 6% before sinking again as the Trump administration announced it had no such plans.
The losses since Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement Wednesday are staggering.
Market losses deepen amid tariffs
The Dow is down 10%, or almost 4,300 points, and the S&P and Nasdaq are down 11% apiece.
Wall Street warnings on the fallout of Trump’s tariffs accelerated. Goldman Sachs economists said Sunday they now expect a recession if the White House maintains the announced tariff rates. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned shareholders Monday that the “recent tariffs will likely increase inflation.”
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) closed at its highest level since April 2, 2020, when the stock market briefly collapsed amid COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.
The VIX rose sharply on a day when the S&P was up as much as 3.4% and down as much as 4.7% at different points. Trump showed no signs of backing down on tariffs, calling for the Fed to cut rates and falsely claiming “there is NO INFLATION.” He warned on Truth Social: “Don’t be Weak!”
UBS Investment Bank chief strategist Bhanu Baweja referred to the situation as a “manmade problem, concentrated really around one man.” Baweja noted, “If that one person changes his mind, suddenly the whole algebra changes.”
The Nasdaq officially entered a bear market Friday, the S&P entered one Monday before trimming losses, and the Dow is not far behind. Stocks also tumbled in Europe and Asia, with indexes in the U.K., China, and Japan falling sharply.
