A bad day for the stock market just got worse after President Donald Trump signaled he’s not backing down from tariff threats.
The Dow fell 664 points, or 1.5%, in Monday afternoon trading. The S&P 500 dropped 1.8%. The Nasdaq Composite was down 2.4%.
The market slid further and existing breadth evaporate after Trump said on Truth social he planned tariffs on external agricultural products starting on April 2.
“To the Great Farmers of the United States: Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product to be sold INSIDE of the United States. Tariffs will go on external product on April 2nd. Have fun!” Trump posted.
A majority of stocks were trading higher earlier in the morning, but such market breadth has given way to selling; fewer than half of the S&P 500 stocks were recently up on the day, while two-thirds of the Dow was dropping.
A weaker-than-expected update from the Institute for Supply Management’s U.S. manufacturing survey sent stocks lower this morning, as Wall Street continued to worry about how looming tariffs could lead to higher prices. The ISM survey followed updates on consumer sentiment that also included concerns about inflation ahead.
“These surveys are telling you that businesses are preparing for price increases ahead, and the only valid reason why is because of the tariffs,” writes Rosenberg Research’s David Rosenberg. “It certainly is not because demand is accelerating (with the Atlanta Fed Nowcast now at -2.8% real GDP growth for Q1). And consumers are sending an equally powerful message that their inflation expectations are on the rise.”
The market is still waiting for an update from President Donald Trump as to whether 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, as well as another 10% tariff on goods from China, go into effect on Tuesday.