The stock market is off to another miserable day after massive tariffs go into effect
New York
CNN
—
Asian stocks were mostly lower and US stock futures tumbled Wednesday after President Donald Trump's enormous "reciprocal" tariffs went into effect, upending global trade.
The tariffs, America's largest in a century, place massive across-the-board import taxes, some as high as 50%, on dozens of nations. Fear has gripped investors across the world as the tariffs threaten to plunge the global and US economies into a recession this year. Businesses and consumers will end up footing those massive tariff bills, and uncertainty has led to a slowdown in hiring and consumer spending.
Japan's Nikkei index plunged 4%, and the Hang Seng tumbled 1.5% after catching a momentary breather Tuesday. A day earlier, on Monday, the Hang Seng tanked in a 13% rout, the biggest daily decline for the index since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
South Korea's benchmark Kospi index headed into bear market territory on Wednesday, a decline of 20% from a recent peak, after the country announced $1.3 billion in emergency support measures for its auto industry as it seeks to mitigate the blow of the Trump administration's tariffs. The index lost more than 1% in early trading, falling about 20% from a peak reached in July 2024.
Markets in Taiwan also fell sharply. But the Shanghai stock market was eking out a slight gain, an outlier in a sea of red Wednesday.
US stock futures were sharply lower after a topsy-turvy Tuesday that at first looked like a strong bounce-back from several days of massive declines. But in an afternoon press conference Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said China had missed its deadline to peel back a 34% retaliatory tariff imposed on US goods Friday. So the Trump administration nearly doubled its additional tariff on China Wednesday morning.
That means all Chinese goods coming into the United States will receive a minimum 104% tariff. Many other nations that avoided the so-called reciprocal tariffs, which aren't really reciprocal, still face a 10% universal tariff that the Trump administration imposed on Saturday.
That announcement sent stocks plunging in a remarkable reversal of fortunes. The negative sentiment continued Wednesday morning.
Dow futures were down 750 points, or 2%. S&P 500 futures fell 2.2% and Nasdaq futures were 2.5% lower.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2.
Carlos Barria/Reuters
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The S&P 500 was set to open in bear market territory, marking a stunningly rapid drop of 20% from the all-time high the index hit just seven weeks ago on February 19.
If the US stock market closes in bear market territory, it will end a bull run that has been ongoing since the peak of the inflation crisis in mid-October 2022, marking the second-fastest decline from a record high to a bear market in the seven-decade history of the S&P 500. Only the Covid pandemic sent stocks into a bear market at a faster clip.
Meanwhile, US oil tumbled more than 4% below $57 a barrel, falling to its lowest level since February 2021. The benchmark Brent crude fell near $60 a barrel. Oil prices have plunged as investors fear a global recession could sap demand for travel, transportation and shipping, all of which require fuel.
Instead, investors have poured money into traditional safe-havens, such as gold. Gold rose more than 1%, near an all-time high. But, curiously, US Treasury yields have risen in recent days as investors have sold off bonds. The benchmark 10-year yield, which fell below 4% earlier in the week, is suddenly back above 4.3%.
Typically, in times of crisis, investors pour money into longer-term bonds in hopes that the short-term market problems are solved in the long run. But the bond market, like the stock market, has been shaken by extreme volatility in recent days, and some investors are heading for the exits.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/09/investing/global-stock-market-reciprocal-tariffs-hnk-intl/index.html
