Updated April 07, 2025 at 16:20 PM ET
U.S. stock markets fell on Monday, extending a sell-off that has swept across global markets as investors were gripped with fear about potential economic devastation from President Trump's tariffs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down nearly 350 points, or 0.9%. The S&P 500 lost 0.2%, but the Nasdaq ended up with a small 0.1% gain. Trading was very volatile with indexes swinging between deep losses and gains throughout the day.
Trillions of dollars have been wiped out in global stock markets since President Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs last week.
In Asia on Monday, stock markets closed deep in the red, as investors digested the prospect of a bruising trade war between the world's top two economies.
China announced plans for a fulsome retaliation against the U.S. tariffs after markets had closed on Friday, spurring President Trump on Monday to threaten to impose an additional 50% tariffs on the Asian economic giant unless Beijing leaders backed down.
Here's a look at the latest:
- Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index slumped 13.2% on the day, its biggest one-day drop since 1997, the year Britain returned the former colony to China, according to Reuters. Taiwan's composite index shed nearly 10% in its biggest one-day drop on record.
- In mainland China, key indexes closed down as much as 9%. Japan's Nikkei index fell close to 8%.
- In early trading in Europe, France's CAC 40 Index, Germany's blue chip DAX index and Britain's FTSE 100 Index were all down 4%-6% in early Monday trading.
- India's stocks saw their biggest single-day drop in percentage terms since March 2020, with the BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 index both dropping about 5% after trading opened before recovering slightly, per the Associated Press.
- Middle East markets also tumbled. The benchmark Brent crude is down by nearly 15% over the last five days of trading, while the Dubai Financial Market exchange fell 5% and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange 4% as they opened on Monday.
Critics speak out as recession odds grow
Trump's announcement last Wednesday of a minimum 10% worldwide tariff, as well as higher "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of countries, has fueled concerns about the likelihood of a recession.
Several major investment banks have cut their forecasts for the economy in recent days, with Goldman Sachs being the latest.
It said in a client note the probability of a recession had risen to 45% from 35%. JP Morgan last week said the risk of a recession had risen above even odds to 60%.
"Investors are very nervous about what's going on," Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, told NPR on Sunday. "I'm sure they're calling lawmakers and the White House to pressure them to come to some kind of terms with other countries over these tariffs and bring this global trade war to an end, because if they don't soon, the economy is going to go into a recession."
While Wall Street has been largely reluctant to criticize Trump's policies, some high-profile figures are starting to speak out.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who runs the largest U.S. bank and is one of the most powerful leaders on Wall Street, warned on Monday that the tariffs will raise prices, slow economic growth, and hurt the country's global standing.
"Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth," Dimon wrote in his annual letter to shareholders, adding that his "most serious concern is how this will affect America's long-term economic alliances."
Dimon is one of a few CEOs who had previously aired milder public concerns about Trump's trade policy: "Uncertainty is not a good thing," he told a conference last month.
The business community in general has tried to avoid criticizing Trump in public and has welcomed his promises of lower taxes and deregulation. But now, the ongoing markets selloff appears has spurred some business leaders to speak out — including some of Trump's vocal supporters.
On Sunday, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted a lengthy thread on X characterizing the tariffs — many of which are due to take effect on Wednesday — as "economic nuclear war."
Ackman, who endorsed Trump before the election last year, said the president is "losing the confidence of business leaders around the globe" and urged him to "call a 90-day time out, negotiate and resolve unfair asymmetric tariff deals, and induce trillions of dollars of new investment in our country."
Also over the weekend, White House adviser Elon Musk publicly broke from Trump on the topic of tariffs, saying during a videoconference with Italy's far-right League party that he hopes the U.S. and Europe will move "to a zero-tariff situation, effectively creating a free-trade zone."
Trump doubles down on his forthcoming tariffs
The numbers — and the critiques — don't appear to be deterring Trump.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday that Trump "wasn't kidding" about the tariffs.
"There is no postponing. They are definitely going to stay in place for days and weeks," said Lutnick. "The president needs to reset global trade. Everybody has a trade surplus and we have a trade deficit."
Speaking to reporters Sunday night on Air Force One, Trump said he had spoken to leaders "from all over the world" but had not agreed to lowering any tariffs.
When asked if there was a threshold of pain from markets that he's unwilling to tolerate, the president sounded dismissive.
"I think your question is so stupid," he said. "I don't want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something."
Maria Aspan contributed to this report.
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