Dow Futures Plummet 1,500 Points as Trump Tariff Shockwave Continues
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Dow futures dropped sharply on Sunday night, down 1,531 points as investors prepare for another rough trading day Monday after economic turmoil triggered by tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on dozens of countries.
Both S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were down 4% each. The numbers appear to set the stage for a Monday that could further decimate retirement accounts.
The bleak futures follow a brutal week where the Dow lost more than 1,600 points on Thursday and more than 2,200 points on Friday.
The back-to-back drops marked two of its worst days in history and the worst since the beginning of the Covid pandemic.
CNBC offered context into the grim numbers:
Investors did not receive the news over the weekend they were wishing for that the Trump administration was having successful negotiations with countries to lower the rates, or at the very least, was considering delaying the set of so-called reciprocal tariffs due to take effect April 9. Instead the president and his key advisors played down the sell-off.
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Fears grew on Wall Street that the sell-off would feed on itself with hedge funds forced to sell down equities and other risky assets to raise cash and meet margin calls. And there were worries that the rapid stock market decline would lead to a vicious circle that would hit the U.S. consumer even before tariffs had an impact.
Trump predicted when he announced reciprocal tariffs that Americans could feel a strain that he said would be temporary.
Amid a chaotic trading day Friday, Trump took to his Truth Social account with an appeal to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates.
“This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates,” Trump wrote. “He is always ‘late,’ but he could now change his image, and quickly. Energy prices are down, Interest Rates are down, Inflation is down, even Eggs are down 69%, and Jobs are UP, all within two months – A BIG WIN for America. CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!”
Thursday, in an apparent attempt to drive up confidence in the market, Trump wrote, “THE OPERATION IS OVER! THE PATIENT LIVED, AND IS HEALING. THE PROGNOSIS IS THAT THE PATIENT WILL BE FAR STRONGER, BIGGER, BETTER, AND MORE RESILIENT THAN EVER BEFORE. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
