Dow Opens Lower, Global Markets Drop on Tariff Concerns
By Joe Wallace and Hannah Erin Lang
Major U.S. stock indexes fell after President Trump threatened tariffs on all of America's trading partners, stoking fears among investors of a shock to the world economy.
"You'd start with all countries," Trump said on Air Force One late Sunday-though he said the tariffs would be more generous than trade partners had been to the U.S.
Trump has set a deadline of Wednesday to announce sweeping tariffs. He has already imposed a range of import levies and is poised to introduce auto tariffs this week. The president said over the weekend he "couldn't care less" if prices for foreign cars went up.
In recent days, the president has pushed his team to be more aggressive, The Wall Street Journal reported, and to devise plans to hit a broader set of countries with tariffs. That runs counter to reports last week that the White House planned to zero in on a targeted set of nations.
Stocks declined in Europe and tumbled in Asia on Monday, while investors sought havens including U.S. government bonds and gold.
The selloff caps a turbulent quarter for markets. Exuberance about deregulation and tax cuts gave way to fear that Trump's trade policy could drive the economy into recession, putting the S&P 500 on track for its biggest quarterly loss since the fall of 2022. Goldman Sachs said it now sees a 35% chance of a U.S. recession, echoing similar warnings from JPMorgan and Moody's.
In recent trading:
U.S. stocks opened lower. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite each dropped more than 1%. Tech stocks such as Nvidia, Tesla and Palantir fell in early trading.
Yields on 10-year Treasury notes hovered around 4.2%, erasing most of the past month's gains.
Gold futures jumped, on track for another record closing high.
Bitcoin prices floated below $83,000.
Oil prices rose despite economic fears, after Trump threatened measures that could snarl up supplies of Russian crude to world markets.
Asian markets sank. Japan's Nikkei 225, Korea's Kospi and Taiwan's Taiex all slumped, weighed by semiconductor stocks. Indexes fell in Hong Kong and mainland China, too.
European stocks retreated, with mining, banking and auto stocks among those leading the way down.
This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).