Wall Street Sees Massive Sell-Off, Global Markets Down Over Recession Fears

Share markets across the globe witnessed sharp losses after a selloff in America, triggered by US President Donald Trump on Monday refusing to rule out the suggestion that his tariffs could trigger a recession in the world’s biggest economy. US bond yields also dropped as investor worries about the potential economic slowdown were exacerbated by Trump’s remarks saying the US economy was in a “period of transition”, amid his fluctuating trade policies on Mexico, Canada, and China, which could dampen consumer demand and corporate investment.

In New York, tech-heavy Nasdaq saw the worst day since 2022. The benchmark S&P 500, which tracks the biggest American companies, has also fallen over 8 per cent from its February high.

The US President has not commented directly on the economy since the troubling remarks, but his top officials and advisers have sought to calm investor fears.

Markets In Red

On Monday, the S&P 500 ended the trading day 2.7 per cent lower–its lowest closing level since September and its biggest daily percentage decline since December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, dropped 2 per cent, for its lowest close since November 4, the day before Trump’s election as President. The Nasdaq Composite plunged 4 per cent to a near six-month low.

The Nasdaq confirmed a correction last week, having tumbled more than 10 per cent from its December all-time high. MSCI’s global stock index also fell more than 2 per cent for its biggest one-day drop, touching its lowest level since January 13.

Shares of Trump’s aid Elon Musk’s Tesla saw a decline of about 15.4 per cent, while artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia was down more than 5 per cent. Other major tech stocks including Meta, Amazon and Alphabet also saw a steep plunge.

In early trade on Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 2.5 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi was 2.3 per cent lower and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was off by 1.8 per cent. Indian equities are also set to open lower on Tuesday, tracking a broad sell-off across Asian markets after Wall Street tumbled overnight.

The GIFT Nifty futures were trading at 22,430.5 as of 07:53 a.m. IST, indicating that the blue-chip Nifty 50 will likely open below Monday’s close of 22,460.3. Nifty 50 is trading about 14.5% below the all-time high hit in September 2024, hurt by slowing earnings growth, US tariff uncertainty and relentless foreign selling.

Earlier, the pan-European STOXX 600 index had ended down 1.29 per cent.

In fixed income, yields fell with US government bonds in demand after the Trump interview cut into investor confidence. The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 10.4 basis points to 3.898 per cent, from 4.002 per cent late on Friday, on track for their largest daily drop since September.

The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes fell 9.3 basis points to 4.225 per cent while the 30-year bond yield fell 6.9 basis points to 4.548 per cent.

In currencies, investors looked for safety. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.5 per cent to 147.29. However, the euro was down 0.06 per cent at $1.0826 and Sterling weakened 0.45 per cent to $1.2862.

Oil prices also sank as tariff uncertainty kept investors on edge along with rising output from OPEC+ producers, although potential sanctions on Iranian oil exports limited losses. American crude settled down 1.51 per cent or $1.01 at $66.03 a barrel while Brent settled at $69.28 per barrel, down $1.08 or 1.53 per cent.

Gold prices also plunged as profit-taking countered support from safe-haven demand fueled by geopolitical uncertainty, with focus on the US inflation data later this week. Spot gold fell 0.86 per cent to $2,885.63 an ounce. US gold futures fell 0.76 per cent to $2,882.70 an ounce. Copper declined 1.25 per cent to $9,493.00 a tonne.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 4.88 per cent to $79,028.58 after touching its lowest level since November.

Trump’s Remark

Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, President Trump appeared to acknowledge the recession concerns. When asked about it, he said, “I hate to predict things like that.”

“There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big. We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing,” he added.

After trading at Wall Street closed on Monday, a White House official said, “We’re seeing a strong divergence between [the] animal spirits of the stock market and what we’re actually seeing unfold from businesses and business leaders.”

“The latter is obviously more meaningful than the former on what’s in store for the economy in the medium to long term,” the official added.

But Trump did not appear on camera on Monday — a rarity for the commander in chief — as the US stock market plunged in the wake of his comments.

Investors Seek Safety

Investors had started seeking safety following President Trump’s remarks, with market strategists pointing to the comments as a key reason for Monday’s cautious mood among investors.

“The Trump administration seems a little more accepting of the idea that they’re OK with the market falling, and they’re potentially even OK with a recession in order to exact their broader goals,” Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky, told news agency Reuters.

“I think that’s a big wake-up call for Wall Street. There had been a sense that President Trump kind of measured his success on stock market performance. There was even somewhat of a ‘Trump put’ so to speak. And I think we’re seeing that’s not the case, so the market is starting to reflect that reality.”

“If the occupant in the White House is himself not terribly optimistic about short-term growth expectations, why should the market be optimistic about it?” said Will Compernolle, macro strategist at FHN Financial.