US stock market loses US$4 trillion in value as Trump pushes ahead on tariffs
S&P 500 down over 8 per cent from February 19 all-time high, as Tesla loses more than US$125 billion in value in one day
US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have spooked investors, with fears of an economic downturn driving a stock market sell-off that has wiped out US$4 trillion from the S&P 500’s peak last month, when Wall Street was cheering much of Trump’s agenda.
A barrage of new Trump policies has increased uncertainty for businesses, consumers and investors, notably back-and-forth tariff moves against major trading partners like Canada, Mexico and China.
“We’ve seen clearly a big sentiment shift,” said Ayako Yoshioka, senior investment strategist at Wealth Enhancement. “A lot of what has worked is not working now.”
The stock market sell-off deepened on Monday. The benchmark S&P 500 fell 2.7 per cent, its biggest daily drop of the year. The Nasdaq Composite slid 4 per cent, its largest one-day decline since September 2022.
The S&P 500 on Monday closed down 8.6 per cent from its February 19 record high, shedding over US$4 trillion in market value since then and nearing a 10 per cent decline that would represent a correction for the index. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended Thursday down more than 10 per cent from its December high.