US stock index futures plummeted, investors expect stock market to remain volatile this week.

On Sunday evening, US stock index futures opened significantly lower, indicating that the selling spree that has continued for two days since the Trump administration announced tariffs last week is still ongoing. This sell-off has already caused the market value of stocks to evaporate tens of trillions of dollars.

Investors have been speculating that as global trading partners react to more severe tariffs than expected, the stock market will remain volatile in the coming week. The latest E-mini S&P 500 futures dropped by 4%. At the opening on Sunday, E-mini Dow Jones futures fell by 3.8% and E-mini Nasdaq 100 futures dropped by 4.6%.

In the two days following Trump’s announcement of tariff hikes last Wednesday, the benchmark S&P 500 index fell by 10.5%, resulting in a market loss of about $5 trillion. This is the largest two-day decline since March 2020. The sharp declines on Thursday and Friday last week caused the S&P 500 index to drop by over 17% from its historical closing high on February 19, bringing it closer to bear market territory, usually defined as a 20% decline.

Mark Malek, Chief Investment Officer of financial services company “Siebert Financial,” stated before the futures market opened, “The bull market is dead. We may see some rebounds in the coming days, but for now, these rallies are unlikely to sustain.”

Malek mentioned that the timing of the tariff announcement coincided with the start of the first-quarter earnings season, which is one of the reasons for the dim outlook on the stock market.

On a morning talk show on Sunday, Trump’s senior economic advisers expressed that they believe the new tariffs are a prudent global trade repositioning. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program, “There is no reason to forecast an economic downturn.”

Some stock traders believe that the market will at least attempt some form of rebound.

Steve Sosnick, Chief Strategist at US multinational brokerage firm “Interactive Brokers,” mentioned before the futures market opened, “At some point this week, we may inevitably see an up day.”

The question remains whether market rebounds can be sustained.

Alex Morris, Chief Investment Officer of investment firm “F/m Investments,” said, “We may see a green screen one day this week, but any lasting rebound may not come within three to four weeks. At that point, people will start saying we’ve let enough air out of the balloon.”

(*This article references Reuters reports*)