Volatile trading as US markets open as President Trump shows no signs of backing down over blanket tariffs on US imports
Wall Street had a rollercoaster start to the week, as share prices initially dived and then bounced back. Shortly after opening the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.17%, the S&P 500 was down 3.57% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 4% and its value.
It follows renewed stock market turmoil in Asia and Europe amid fears about the impact of Donald Trump’s tariff bombshell and the risk that they would trigger a global recession. The S&P 500, America’s benchmark index, was on track to enter a bear market, leaving it more than 20% below its record high in December.
But a little while after, the index – and the Nasdaq – recovered and were trading higher, then fell again. Both a long way off the highs before President Trump unleashed his latest wave of levies. Earlier sell-offs in other countries meant another £1trillion was wiped off global markets by late on Monday, too add to the trillions lost last week.
Shortly before the US markets opened, President Trump urged investors to “be strong, courageous, and patient.” But he showed no sign of backing down over his imposition of tariffs of at least 10% on imports from almost all countries in the world. Writing on his Truth Social online platform, he claimed: “Oil prices are down, interest rates are down (the slow moving Fed should cut rates!), food prices are down, there is NO INFLATION, and the long time abused USA is bringing in Billions of Dollars a week from the abusing countries on Tariffs that are already in place.”
