US Stock Market Loses $4 Trillion in Value Amid Trump’s Trade War

At least $4 trillion was wiped from the U.S. stock market on Monday, March 10, as fears over President Donald Trump’s economic policies, concerns about a potential recession, and escalating trade tensions sparked a massive market selloff.

Wall Street’s decline began early, with all three major indexes opening in negative territory, extending the sharp losses from the previous week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 890 points, marking its worst single-day drop of the year, while the S&P 500 fell 2.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite experienced an even sharper decline, tumbling 4%.

This market downturn has erased all gains made by the three major indexes since the U.S. presidential election in November 2024.

The S&P 500 is now down 8% from its all-time high on February 19, and the Nasdaq Composite has officially entered correction territory after falling more than 10% from its peak in December.

The market selloff gained momentum after President Donald Trump’s interview with Fox News on Sunday, during which he declined to rule out the possibility of a recession, further fueling investor concerns.

“I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big,” Trump said on Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo.

Tech stocks were at the forefront of the market decline, with major companies like Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA), and Tesla (TSLA) experiencing substantial losses.

“President Trump’s comments not necessarily taking a recession off the table unnerved investors who were already on edge,” said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise.

Despite market fears, the White House defended Trump’s economic policies. “Since President Trump was elected, industry leaders have responded to his America First economic agenda with trillions in investment commitments that will create thousands of new jobs,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai. He added that Trump had delivered “historic job, wage, and investment growth” in his first term and was set to do so again in his second term.

Tesla, which had initially seen gains following Trump’s election victory, has plummeted nearly 45% this year. The stock has faced additional pressure due to protests against CEO Elon Musk’s ties to the Trump administration and declining sales in Europe.

Meanwhile, Nvidia shares dropped 5%, and artificial intelligence firm Palantir (PLTR) saw a sharp decline of 10%.

Bitcoin also experienced a significant downturn, falling to around $78,000—its lowest level since November—amid a broader selloff of riskier assets.

Investor concerns have been exacerbated by uncertainty surrounding Trump’s trade policies. The President has threatened new tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, doubled tariffs on all Chinese imports from 10% to 20%, and announced a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports set to take effect on March 12.

Last week, Trump also warned of a 250% tariff on Canadian dairy products and a “tremendously high” tariff on Canadian lumber, suggesting that tariffs could “go up as time goes by.”

In response to the market turmoil, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell to 4.225% as investors sought safety in government bonds, reflecting growing concerns over economic stability. Attention now turns to inflation data expected on Wednesday and Thursday, which could provide further clarity on the state of the economy.