Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 07, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Stocks dropped on Monday as the selling pressures that dragged Wall Street last week persisted, with investors worried about an economic slowdown after President Donald Trump didn’t rule out a recession with U.S. tariffs being implemented.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 319 points, or 0.8%. The S&P 500 shed 1.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.8%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq was weighed down by declines in the “Magnificent Seven” cohort. Tesla shed 6%, Alphabet fell 4%, Meta lost 3% and AI darling Nvidia slipped 2%.
Stocks have been under pressure as investors fret over a possible recession due to tariffs implemented by the Trump administration. Part of the concern is that these levies could drive prices higher, thus making it harder for the Federal Reserve to lower rates. In an interview that aired Sunday, Trump responded to a question on Fox News about the possibility of a recession by saying the economy was going through “a period of transition.”
“We are in the throes of a manufactured correction. I say manufactured because it’s really based in response to the new administration’s tariff programs, or at least threats of tariffs, and what kind of an impact that will have on the economy. Now, with people talking about potential recession, I think it’s just adding to investor concern,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. “Right now we’re going through a typical pullback and probably will experience a mild correction before all is completed, which actually would be good for the resetting of the dials of this ongoing bull market.”
Last week, the S&P 500 lost 3.1% for its worst weekly mark since September. The Dow fell 2.4%, while the Nasdaq shed 3.5%. Over the past month, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are down 6% and 9%, respectively, while the Dow is down 4.5%.
The turbulence could continue this week, with a heavy dose of economic data adding to the list of potential market-moving events. On the inflation front, the February consumer price index release is slated for Wednesday, followed by the producer price index on Thursday.
