The US stock market has dumped more than $1.7 trillion in value after President Donald Trump refused to rule out the possibility of a recession this year.
Monday’s benchmark S&P 500 fell 2.7% and dragged the index, reaching its highest ever hit on February 19th.
The Tech Heavy Nasdaq 100 plummeted 3.81%, the sharpest daily loss since September 2022.
The losses following a surge in two weeks mean that the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are at their lowest levels since September.
Tesla, an electric car company run by Trump’s cost-cutting TSAR Elon Musk, won some of the steepest losses among individual companies, plunging to 15.43%.
Asian stock markets piled into losses on Tuesday morning, with Japan’s Nikko 225 and Taiwan’s Taiex falling by more than 2.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hangsen slipping around 1.5%.
Market defeats are arousing as the announcement of tariffs before and after Trump is uncertain, fears that the economy is being turned towards a massive slowdown or, in the worst case, a recession.
When asked in an interview with Fox News that aired Sunday if Trump was expecting a recession this year, he left the possibility of a recession open.
“I hate predicting such things. Trump has a transition period because what we are doing is so big. “We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing… It takes a little time, but I think it should be great for us.”
“There is total uncertainty in the market,” Steve Okun, founder and CEO of APAC Advisor in Singapore, told Al Jazeera.
“[Trump] As for the tariffs, there is no reliability so far, especially because of what he did in Mexico and Canada. That’s why the market is responding like it is. They don’t know what will happen. “
Last week, Trump slapped a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada, doubling the job rate for Chinese goods to 20%, but announced two days later that he would postpone the obligations for Mexican and Canadian goods until April 2nd.
Another 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports is expected to take effect Wednesday.
Goldman Sachs economists raised the chance of a recession from 15% to 20% within the next 12 months last week, while JPMorgan Chase increased the chances from 30% to 40% “due to extreme US policies.”
“Indecisive, confused, mixed messaging”
New York Stock Exchange trader Peter Takuman described Monday’s trading session as “bloody.”
“These strains are being eaten, but this is obviously a fear of a recession, right?” Tuchman said in a video posted to X.
“Last week there was a roller coaster, there were days, there were days, there were all the features of what came out of the oval office.
Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic Sen. representing Massachusetts, accused Trump of putting the economy at risk with his policies.
“We’re really in financial trouble thanks to the president. The stock market is a flashing warning light right now,” Warren said in X.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was also wary of a stock loss in a rare memo of opposition to Trump among Republicans.
“The stock market is made up of millions of people trading simultaneously,” Paul said in X.
“The market index is the distillation of emotions. If the market falls like this in response to tariffs, you can listen.”
In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Kevin Hassett, head of Trump’s National Economic Council, lost concerns about economic health as a “data blip.”
“The first quarter will squeal into a positive category, and the second quarter will start seeing the reality of tax cuts,” Hassett said.
