The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed lower on Monday after a roller-coaster trading session. Mixed signals about President Donald Trump’s tariffs triggered major reversals, from losses to gains to losses again. The Dow dropped 349 points, or 0.91%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq ticked up 0.1%.
The S&P 500 closed down 0.23%. The wild trading comes amid concerns over Trump’s recently announced tariffs, sparking fears of a broader global trade war. The Dow posted its largest intraday point swing ever, falling more than 1,700 points during its Monday session low, then swinging up 2,595 points from that low.
Markets initially dropped sharply at the open of trading but recovered after Trump indicated a willingness to negotiate tariffs in a social media post. “Countries from all over the World are talking to us,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Tough but fair parameters are being set.”
However, those gains were reversed when Trump threatened to slap an additional 50% tariff on China unless the country withdraws its retaliatory tariffs.
The escalating trade tensions are affecting market stability and fueling volatility. Bret Kenwell, a U.S. investment analyst at eToro, described the situation as “an immense amount of volatility at the moment amid an immense amount of uncertainty.” Ivan Feinseth, a market analyst at Tigress Financial, highlighted the broader economic implications of the tariffs. “You can draw a line from these tariffs to the fact they could slow growth, increase inflation and put the Federal Reserve on hold.
Now everything is in a panic,” Feinseth said.
Market volatility spurs global declines
The sell-off on Monday also hit crypto markets.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, fell 0.9%, standing at about $79,000, a roughly 30% drop from a peak attained in January. Ether dropped 3.4%, while lesser-known coin Solana fell 1.1%. Asian markets also experienced significant declines.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost nearly 9%, temporarily halting trading. Japan’s broader TOPIX index sank 8%. South Korea’s KOSPI index fell more than 5.5%, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 sliding over 6% before recovering slightly.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 13.22%, its worst one-day performance since the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. European markets joined the rout on Monday morning. The British FTSE 100 index fell 6%, Germany’s DAX index fell 10%, and France’s CAC lost 6.6%.
Investors expected continued market turmoil. Addressing the recent market turbulence on Air Force One, Trump stated, “Now what’s going to happen with the market? I can’t tell you, but I can tell you, our country has gotten a lot stronger, and eventually it’ll be a country like no other, it’ll be the most dominant country economically in the world.” He added, “Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
The turbulent trading session on Monday continued from Friday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 2,230 points, or 5.5%, while the S&P 500 plunged 6%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 5.8%, putting it into bear market territory.
