US President Donald Trump cautioned against “stupid” panic on Monday as a global stock market rout deepened after Beijing retaliated against his tariffs offensive.
The S&P 500 was down 3.8 per cent in early trading, coming off its worst week since Covid-19 began crashing the global economy in March 2020. The index, which sits at the heart of many investors’ 401(k) accounts, has lost more than 20 per cent since setting a record less than two months ago.
If the S&P 500 finishes the day below that mark, it’s a big enough drop that Wall Street has a name for it. A “bear market” signifies a downturn that’s moved beyond a run-of-the-mill 10 per cent drop, which happens every year or so, and has graduated into something much more vicious.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,343 points, or 3.5, as of 9.35am, and the Nasdaq composite was 4.2 per cent lower.
A 10-percent “baseline” tariff on imports from around the world took effect on Saturday, but a slew of countries will be hit by higher duties from Wednesday, with levies of 34 per cent for Chinese goods and 20 per cent for EU products.
Beijing announced last week its own 34-percent tariff on US goods, which will come into effect on Thursday.