Concerns over the tariff policy implemented by President Trump have sparked worries in the market about a possible economic downturn in the United States. As a result, the US stock market opened lower on Monday, March 10th, continuing the selling pressure on Wall Street from the previous week.
As of the time of reporting, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 392 points, a decline of 0.9%. The S&P 500 index dropped by 1.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index dipped by 2.8%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq index was dragged down by the decline of the “Big Seven” stocks. Tesla’s stock fell by 6%, Google parent company Alphabet’s stock dropped by 4%, Meta’s Facebook stock decreased by 3%, and Nvidia, the darling of AI, saw a 2% decline.
Investors have been concerned about a potential economic recession due to the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, putting pressure on the stock market. Some worries include the possibility that these taxes could raise prices, making it more difficult for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.
President Trump, in an interview on Fox News program “Sunday Morning Futures” on Sunday, March 9th, when asked whether he predicts an economic recession this year, responded by saying, “I hate predicting things like that.”
“There’s a period of transition because we’re doing something very big. We’re bringing back wealth to the United States. It’s a big deal, and it always takes a little bit of time, it takes a little time,” he added.
Lori Calvasina, the US Equity Strategist at RBC Capital Markets, stated on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday that “our bear market risk has increased… we think the market is going to bounce around the 6,600 level by the end of this year, but we’ll see a 5% to 10% pullback within the year, then rebound.”
“I do think the risk is rising right now, and we could encounter something worse than a 10% drop, like a range between 14% to 20%,” added Calvasina.
Last week, the S&P 500 index fell by 3.1%, marking its worst weekly decline since September. The Dow fell by 2.4%, and the Nasdaq dropped by 3.5%. Over the past month, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices fell by 6% and 9% respectively, while the Dow dropped by 4.5%.
A slew of economic data set to be released this week may trigger corresponding market events, leading to potential continued market volatility. The US government is set to publish the Consumer Price Index for February on Wednesday and the Producer Price Index on Thursday.
(This article referenced reports from CNBC, a US financial news site.)