US stocks tumble as deepening consumer gloom raises stagflation fears https://t.co/VVQUs9BYIZ via @ft
— Oliver Stuenkel 🇧🇷 (@OliverStuenkel) March 28, 2025
U.S. stock futures fell Monday as traders looked ahead to “Liberation Day” for clarity on President Donald Trump’s tariff plans. Dow futures dropped 238 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq dipped 0.9% and 1.2%, respectively.
Hardworking Americans have invested in their retirement plans their entire lives—we trust them to support us in our old age.
President Trump's policies are taking our retirement away.https://t.co/3J45CAhgIw— Joe Morelle (@RepJoeMorelle) March 28, 2025
A slew of tariffs set to be enacted by the Trump administration will go into effect on Wednesday — what Trump has called “Liberation Day” — including tariffs on “all cars that are not made in the United States.” The president is also expected to announce his plan for reciprocal tariffs. Uncertainty surrounding these tariffs has been an overhang on equities, dragging stocks lower on Friday to end the last full trading week of March. Trump did little to assuage fears over the weekend, with reports indicating that the president had in recent days pushed his advisors to get more aggressive when it comes to tariffs.
In a Saturday interview, Trump mentioned the possibility of foreign automakers raising their prices due to these new tariffs. Auto stocks were lower on Monday. Ford Motor and General Motors were down around 1% in the premarket, while Stellantis shed nearly 3%.
Stocks To Watch | 📊Ready, set, trade! Keep an eye on these stocks as they set the market abuzz #StockMarket pic.twitter.com/lBR2wNGGz2
— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) March 31, 2025
#NewsFatafat | Deep gashes on the Wall Street with all three benchmark indices closing in the red. Hotter-than-expected inflation data and uncertainty over upcoming tariffs send markets in downward spiral#Nasdaq #WallStreet pic.twitter.com/KcZHv6iHkY
— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) March 29, 2025
On top of that, Trump said the levies would target all countries rather than a small group with trade imbalances with the U.S.
Monday marks the final day of what has been a tumultuous month and quarter for Wall Street. The S&P 500 dipped into correction territory in March after hitting a record in February. It was 9.2% below its all-time high through Friday’s close.
New tariffs impact global markets
The S&P 500 is down more than 6% for the month, on pace for its biggest one-month slide since September 2022, when it dropped 9.3%. The Nasdaq has lost 8% in March, while the Dow has fallen 5.2%.
For the quarter, the S&P 500 was down 5.1%, potentially snapping a five-quarter winning streak. The Nasdaq has lost 10.3% this quarter, marking its biggest quarterly pullback since a 22.4% plunge in the second quarter of 2022. The Dow has shed 2.3% in the first three months of 2025.
Investors will also be looking forward to a heavy slate of economic data this week, most notably the March jobs report, which will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, April 4. Asia-Pacific markets plunged Monday ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s fresh round of tariffs expected later in the week, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 entering correction territory. The index ended the day at 35,617.56, losing nearly 12% from its December high.
The broader Topix index lost 3.57% to 2,658.73. In South Korea, the KOSPI index closed 3% lower at 2,481.12, while the small-cap Kosdaq declined 3.01% to 672.85. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended the day 1.74% lower at 7,843.30 ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy meeting on Tuesday.
Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.71% to close at 3,887.31 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 1.02%.