The tech-heavy Nasdaq led a selloff among Wall Street’s main indexes on Monday, falling over 3% to a near six-month low, on fears that a tit-for-tat tariff war could spark an economic slowdown.
The Nasdaq has fallen more than 10% from its December high, and confirmed a correction on Thursday.
The S&P 500 is on track to close below its 200-day moving average for the first time since November 2023. Analysts view this as a crucial support level, with a break potentially signaling a larger selloff ahead.
The CBOE Volatility index, also known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, jumped more than 3 points to 26, highest since December 18.
At 11:26 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 378.81 points, or 0.89%, to 42,422.91, the S&P 500 lost 113.38 points, or 1.96%, to 5,656.82, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 604.10 points, or 3.32%, to 17,593.00.
Mega-cap growth stocks such as Nvidia fell 4.5%, while Microsoft and Amazon.com were down over 3% each.
Tesla was down 8.6%, lowest since November 5, after UBS cut its forecast for the automaker’s first-quarter deliveries.
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The technology sector lost 3.8%, leading sectoral declines on the S&P 500. The domestically focused small-cap Russell 2000 index fell 1.5%.
JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs declined and weighed on the broader banks index.
On the other hand, defensive stocks such as consumer staples and utilities added nearly 1% each.
In an interview on Sunday, Trump declined to predict whether the U.S. could face a recession, at a time when investors are concerned that his fluctuating trade policies on Mexico, Canada and China could dampen consumer demand and corporate investment.
China’s retaliatory tariffs on select U.S. imports are setto take effect on Monday, with U.S. tariffs on certain base metals anticipated later in the week.
“The Trump administration seems a little more accepting that they’re okay with the market falling, and they’re potentially even okay with a recession in order to extract their broader goals,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird.
A Reuters poll showed 91% of economists see higher recession risks due to Trump’s shifting trade policies. HSBC also downgraded U.S. stocks, citing uncertainty around tariffs.
Data on inflation, job openings and consumer confidence are due later in the week.
On Friday, investors took some comfort from Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments that the economy was on a strong footing, but he also underscored the need for caution on lowering borrowing costs.
The Federal Open Market Committee will convene next week and traders expect policy rates to be left unchanged for the first half of this year, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy slid 11.6%, while Coinbase fell 10% tracking lower bitcoin prices.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.78-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.78-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and eight new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 25 new highs and 156 new lows.
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