Stocks ended down again on Tuesday, as investors reacted to the prospect of a damaging global trade war following a series of tariffs put in place by President Donald Trump.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 670.25 points, or 1.55%, ending the session at 42,520.99, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.22% and closed at 5,778.15 after posting its worst day of the year on Monday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.35% and finished the day at 18,285.16.
George Smith, portfolio strategist for LPL Financial, noted that since 1950 the S&P 500 has experience 608 single day losses of over 1.75%, an average of just over 8 per year, or around two every quarter on average.
“While every situation is different historically buying the dip after such single day declines has been a successful strategy on average,” he said.
Updated at 2:13 PM EST
Stocks are paring some of their earlier declines into the final two hours of trading, with the S&P 500 now down 17 points, or 0.28% on the session and the Nasdaq nudging into positive territory as investors look to add beaten-down names at some of the lowest pricing levels of the year.
“There is a decidedly ‘risk off’ trade in the market over the last week or so, now that some tariffs are a reality the mood of investors is turning more negative,” said Brian Mulberry, portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management.
“That said it is important to watch for real impacts on earnings, while we have seen and heard some softening of future guidance it is not to a level where we would believe growth has slowed to a negative level or that we expect a big change to the current strength in the labor market,” he added.
Updated at 10:56 AM EST
The S&P 500 has erased all of the advance its made since President Donald Trump was elected on November 5, when the benchmark closed at 5,782.76 points, amid the market’s extended March decline.
The benchmark was last pegged 96 points, or 1.64% lower on the session, and trading at points, 5,751.38 points, marking a year-to-date decline of around 2%.
Bond markets are also active, with benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields now marked 2 basis points lower on the day, and down around 44 basis points since the start of the year, at 4.142%.
“The markets have been frustrated recently with the high level of uncertainty and now are being forced to grapple with additional tariffs. Investors are trying to stay vigilant as policies out of the administration are in constant flux and tariff rhetoric is amplified,” said Mark Gibbens, vice president and investment strategist at BOK Financial.
“The current environment, which now includes an economic growth scare, has increased the importance of Friday’s jobs report,” he added. “Meanwhile, market participants with risk exposure are left holding the bag as they wait for relief on trade policy, or some version of a Trump put.”
Updated at 9:37 AM EST
The S&P 500 was marked 60 points, or 1.03% lower in the opening minutes of trading, with the Nasdaq down 207 points, or 1.13%
The Dow fell 415 points while the mdi-cap Russell 2000 slumped 38 points, or 1.29% with focus potentially shifting to the President’s State of the Union address later this evening.
“President Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday comes just as investors are raising serious questions about the new administration’s agenda, including tariffs and Federal job cuts, which could begin to negatively affect economic growth,” said Clark Geranen, chief market strategist, CalBay Investments.
“Investors will be looking for clarity on whether or not tariffs will be long lasting or short-term negotiating tactics, and more details on the extent and depth of the DOGE-related government job cuts,” he added.
Updated at 9:12 AM EST
Target (TGT) shares are moving firmly lower in early trading after the retail giant echoed Walmart’s WMT dour near-term outlook and warned that customers will face tariff-related price hikes within the coming days.
Target topped Wall Street’s fourth quarter earnings forecasts, but said full-year comparable sales would bet, at best, flat to 2024 levels as consumers become increasingly cautious on spending.
“The lowering of prices is negatively impacting profitability, which pressured earnings during the quarter and will most likely continue to pressure profitability over the next several quarters,” said Brian Yarbrough, senior consumer analyst for Edward Jones.
Target shares were last marked 4.2% lower in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $115.66 each.
Tesla (TSLA) shares extended their decline Tuesday following a notable drop in China sales that underscores the group’s brand erosion tied to the political activities of CEO Elon Musk.
The China Passenger Car Association said Tesla delivered 30,688 cars into the world’s biggest market last month, a 51.5% slump from January and the lowest overall tally since August 2022. The group is also seeing big double-digit declines in European sales, with February registrations falling 44.4% in France and 45.3% in Norway.
Tesla shares were marked 2.8% lower in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $276.20, a move that would extend the stock’s 2026 slump to around 27%.
New levies on goods from Canada, Mexico and China, which could collectively affect around $2.2 trillion in global trade, went into effect at midnight U.S. Eastern, with both Canada and China outlining reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods that will be imposed over the coming weeks.
“With the recent one-month reprieve on these tariffs seen as a sign that they were purely designed to extract action on further strengthening of borders, their sudden implementation has been met with an immediate response and sharply escalates the risk of an all-out global trade war between America and the rest of the world,” said Lindsay James, investment strategist at London-based Quilter Investors.
The move followed a sharp decline in U.S. stocks tied to the tariffs risks, which also appear to have sparked renewed inflation pressures in the world’s biggest economy while weighing on consumer sentiment and slowing manufacturing demand.
Trump is also planning so-called reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners that will start next month, and yesterday unveiled plans to impose export duties on American agricultural products.
President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy came into full effect on Tuesday, with levies that will effect around $2.2 trillion in global trade. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The S&P 500 tumbled more than 100 points into the close last night, falling 1.76% on the session and slipping into negative territory for the year, while the Nasdaq shed nearly 500 points and the Dow slumped 650 points.
The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracker suggests a current-quarter contraction of 2.8%, a nearly four-point swing from last week’s update and a worrying indication that the economy faces recession risks tied to the president’s policies.
At the same time, data from the ISM’s benchmark survey of manufacturing activity showed the biggest jump in factory-gate prices in nearly three years, as well the largest decline in new orders in more than two years.
Global market reaction has been swift, with investors marking the U.S. dollar index down to its lowest levels since early December and benchmark U.S. Treasury bonds rallying on the prospect of weaker domestic growth and potentially lower Federal Reserve interest rates.
Benchmark 10-year note yields were last marked at 4.159%, around 2 basis points south of last night’s levels, with 2-year notes trading at 3.927% heading into the start of the New York session.
On Wall Street, stocks are poised for a modestly weaker open, but are likely to sharply increase volatility, with the CBOE Group’s VIX index is trading at a two-month high of $23.08, suggesting daily swings of 1.44%, or 84 points, for the S&P 500.
Futures contracts tied to the benchmark suggest a modest 4-point opening bell decline, while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are priced for a 30-point pullback.
The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, which is now down 5% for the year, is priced for a 5-point bump.
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In overseas markets, European stocks slumped 1.1% in midday Frankfurt trading amid the trade war worries and the threat of tariffs on goods from the European Union, while Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.28% in London.
Overnight in Asia, the export-focused Nikkei 225 fell 1.2% by the end of the session in Tokyo, while the regional MSCI ex-Japan benchmark fell 0.32% into the close of trading.
