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U.S. stocks tumbled again in a volatile trading session Monday as the White House remained defiant even after the rollout of shockingly high tariff rates on most key U.S. trading partners that has caused a market meltdown.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 702.38 points, or 1.8%, to break for lunch at 37,612.48.
The S&P 500 index wavered 61.86 points, or 1.2%, to 5,012.22
The NASDAQ removed 119.07 points to 15,468.12.
Stocks mounted a short-lived rally shortly after the open that took the Dow Jones Industrial average into positive territory. Speculation of some sort of tariff pause circulated on trading floors and social media and may have contributed to the pop. The White House the media any talk of a 90-day pause was “fake news.”
Trump’s initial unilateral 10% tariff went into effect Saturday. Investors were hoping for news over the weekend that the Trump administration was having successful negotiations with countries to lower the tariff rates, or at the very least, was considering delaying the set of so-called reciprocal tariffs due to take effect April 9. Instead the president and his key advisors played down the selloff.
“I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
Trump added, “We have a trillion-dollar trade deficit with China, hundreds of billions of dollars a year we lose with China. And unless we solve that problem, I’m not going to make a deal.”
Reaction was swift. “The president is losing the confidence of business leaders around the globe…this is not what we voted for,” wrote Bill Ackman, billionaire head of Pershing Square, on X.
“The President has an opportunity on Monday to call a time out and have the time to execute on fixing an unfair tariff system. Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down.”
Prices for the 10-year Treasury stumbled, raising yields to 4.12% from Friday’s 4%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $1.42 to $60.53 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold resumed their downward journey, $34.40, to $3,001.00 U.S.
Markets Slump Near Bear Territory as Early Morning Rally Fizzles