Wall Street followed global markets lower early Monday ahead of the Trump administration’s latest tariff rollout later this week.
The selloff, which had started in Japan and continued in Europe ahead of US markets opening, was triggered by after President Donald Trump threatened an extraordinary tariff at 20 percent on imports.Just after the opening bell in New York at 9.30am, the S&P 500 sank 1.3 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq — home to many of the biggest U.S. tech companies — tumbled 2.3 percent.
The S&P 500, which most Americans are invested in through their 401(k)s, is on track to finish the first three months of the year with a loss of more than 6.4 percent, which would make this its worst quarter in nearly three years.
Japan was first to wake to the Trump news as the Nikkei 225 index fell sharply by more than 4 percent. In London the FTSE 100 shed more than 1 percent and in Frankfurt the DAX dropped by more than 1.5 percent.
Trump spent his election campaign and his first three months in the White House touting his tariff plans, and this week he will unveil the highly anticipated plan to improve America’s economic future.The president has pushed his team in recent days to ‘be more aggressive’ in finalizing the details, the Wall Street Journal reported. Advisers are reportedly considering sweeping global tariffs of up to 20 percent, impacting nearly every U.S. trading partner with little room for exemptions
Tariffs are taxes paid by US companies on imported goods.
They are seen by Mr Trump as a way to bolster production by American firms, protecting home-grown manufacturers, while also punishing foreign countries for unfair trade practice
Tesla’s woes continued as Elon Musk’s electric car company slid 6.1 percent. Tesla is down 42 percent since Trump took office on January 20.
Experts say losses are driven in part by the public perception of Musk’s oversight of the new Department of Government Efficiency that´s slashing government spending.
Tesla sales in Europe and the US have fallen, partly due to Musk´s political shift to the right. Protestors have targeted the automaker´s showrooms, vehicle lots and charging stations, with some resorting to vandalism, including burning privately owned vehicles.The price of gold hit a record high before inching back down to $3,149 an ounce. Investors continue to pull out of equities in search of traditional safe havens like gold.
Markets worldwide have been anxious over a potentially toxic mix of worsening inflation and a slowing U.S. economy because households are afraid to spend due to the deepening trade war, escalated U.S. by President Donald Trump.
Trump has dubbed Wednesday ‘Liberation Day,’ when he will roll out tariffs tailored to each of the United States´ trading partners that he promises will free the the country from foreign goods.
The details of Trump´s next round of import taxes are still sketchy. Most economic analyses say average U.S. families would have to absorb the cost of his tariffs in the form of higher prices and lower incomes. That has contributed to significant decline in U.S. consumer confidence this year, which has alarmed investors.
On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 2% for one of its worst days in the last two years. It was its fifth losing week in the last six, helping to drive the index down 5% this year. The Dow sank 1.7% and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.7% and is down more than 10% in 2025.
Many of the countries that run trade surpluses with the U.S. and depend heavily on export manufacturing are in Asia, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
‘Asia is ground zero. Of the 21 countries under USTR (U.S. Trade Representative) scrutiny, nine are in Asia,’ Innes noted.
Tokyo´s benchmark fell 4.1% to 35,617.56, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 1.3% to 23,119.58.
The Shanghai Composite index declined 0.5% to 3,335.75.
In South Korea, the Kospi fell 3% to 2,481.12, while Australia´s S&P/ASX 200 sank 1.7%, closing at 7,843.40.
Taiwan´s Taiex lost 4.2%.
European markets opened lower. Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 1.4%, while France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX each fell 2%.
Thailand´s SET lost 1.3% after a powerful earthquake centered in Myanmar rattled the region, causing widespread destruction in the country, also known as Burma, and less damage in places like Bangkok.
Shares in Italian Thai Development, developer of a partially built 30-story high-rise office building under construction that collapsed, tumbled 27%. Thai officials said they are investigating the cause of the disaster, which left dozens of construction workers missing.
