A trader reacts on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., February 25, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
The S&P 500 retreated on Monday, extending February’s rout and turning red for the year after President Donald Trump’s confirmation of forthcoming tariffs.
The broad index fell 1.76% to end at 5,849.72, marking its worst day since December and bringing its year-to-date performance to a loss of about 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 649.67 points, or 1.48%, to finish at 43,191.24. The Nasdaq Composite slid 2.64% to close at 18,350.19, weighed down by Nvidia‘s decline of more than 8%.
Stocks took a notable leg down in afternoon trading following President Trump’s reiteration that 25% levies on imports from Mexico and Canada would go into effect on Tuesday, dashing investors’ hopes of a last-minute deal to avert the full tariffs on the two U.S. allies. All three indexes traded in positive territory earlier in the day, with the Dow rising nearly 200 points at session highs.
“No room left for Mexico or for Canada,” Trump said alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick from the White House. “Reciprocal tariffs start on April 2 … but very importantly, tomorrow, tariffs, 25% on Canada and 25% on Mexico … will start.”
Trump also signed an action to impose an additional 10% duty on China, according to an administration official.
Dow intraday
A risk-off move ensued, hitting everything from technology to small caps. Beyond Nvidia, onetime popular artificial intelligence plays such as Broadcom and Super Micro Computer also plunged. Elsewhere, the small cap-focused Russell 2000 dropped close to 3%.
Stocks set to take a direct hit from the tariffs or retaliation by the targeted countries also fell. GM and Ford hit their lows of the session after Trump’s comments. Exchange-traded funds from iShares tracking Mexico and Canada each fell more than 1%.
“Whether the stock market can survive this change remains to be seen,” Chris Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS, said in a note. “One way or another, tariffs will be a shock for the economy.”
Monday’s sell-off to start March comes after the three major indexes notched losses for February, largely over fear of the effect of tariffs and early signs of a weakening economy. The Dow and S&P 500 each slipped more than 1% in February, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite recorded its worst month since April 2024 with a pullback of about 4%.
Soft economic data for the manufacturing and construction sectors released Monday offered the latest reasons for worry about the state of the U.S. economy. Those releases kick off a big week for economic data that will be capped by the February jobs report slated for Friday.
