Stocks See-Sawed on a Wild Day on Wall Street

Markets surged after rumor that Trump may pause tariffs
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 7, 2025 3:33 PM CDT
Stocks End Modestly Lower After a Wild Day
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, April 7, 2025.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Stocks ended another tumultuous day lower on Monday as markets reeled from President Trump's latest threats to escalate his tariff fight.

  • The S&P 500 fell 11.83 points, or 0.2%, to 5,062.25.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 349.26 points, or 0.9%, to 37,965.60.
  • The Nasdaq composite rose 15.48 points, or 0.1%, to 15,603.26.
The Dow was earlier down as many as 1,700 points following even worse losses worldwide on worries that Trump's tariffs could torpedo the global economy. It then surged to a gain after a rumor circulated that Trump may pause his tariffs. But the White House quickly called that fake news, and Trump then threatened to raise tariffs further on China.

That a rumor could move trillions of dollars' worth of investments shows how much investors are hoping to see signs that Trump may let up on tariffs, the AP reports. Indexes kept swerving between losses and gains Monday, even after Trump threatened to raise his tariffs, because hope still remains in markets that negotiations may still come. "Could things get worse? Of course they could," says Nate Thooft, a senior portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management. "We're not calling the all-clear at all, but when you have this type of volatility in the market, of course you're going to have back and forth" in markets not just day to day but also hour to hour.

"We're all waiting for the next bit of information," Thooft says. "Literally a Truth Social tweet or an announcement of some sort about real negotiations could dramatically move this market. This is the world we live in right now." All that seems to be certain is that the financial pain hammered investments around the world on Monday, the third straight day of steep losses after Trump announced tariffs in his "Liberation Day."

  • Stocks in Hong Kong plunged 13.2% for their worst day since 1997. A barrel of benchmark US crude oil dipped below $60 during the morning for the first time since 2021, hurt by worries that a global economy weakened by trade barriers will burn less fuel.

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  • Bitcoin sank below $79,000, down from its record above $100,000 set in January, after holding steadier than other markets last week.
  • Nike dropped 2.9% for one of the larger losses on Wall Street. Not only does it sell a lot of shoes and apparel in China, it also makes much of it there. Last fiscal year, factories in China made 18% of its Nike brand footwear. Vietnam made 50%, and Indonesia made 27%.
(More stock market stories.)

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