Stocks whipsawed on Monday ahead of President Trump’s plan to announce more tariffs on April 2, with the market initially dipping in early trading before recovering later in the day. Even so, those gains couldn’t offset steep losses recorded earlier in the month, with the S&P 500 marking its worst quarterly performance since 2022.
Mr. Trump has dubbed April 2 “Liberation Day” because the new reciprocal tariffs, he says, will restore trade balances between the U.S. and other nations.
But investors are cautious about the impact of a round of new tariffs, which are import fees that are largely passed onto U.S. consumers in the form of higher prices. Consumer confidence this month slumped to a 12-year low as more Americans are expressing concerns about tariffs and a pick-up in inflation.
During the first three months of 2025, the S&P 500 lost 4.6%, marking the worst quarter in two-and-a-half years. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite ended the first three months of the year with a 10.4% decline, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 2.2% over the same period.
Monday’s neck-twisting turn has become routine for the U.S. stock market recently because of uncertainty about what Mr. Trump will do with tariffs. Investors are anxious over a potentially toxic mix of worsening inflation and a slowing U.S. economy because households are afraid to spend due to a deepening trade war escalated by Mr. Trump.
“Consumers are getting fed up, sending confidence to recession…
