U.S. stocks were tumbling Monday as worries about President Donald Trump’s trade war and his criticism of the Federal Reserve caused investors to pull back further, the Associated Press reports. The S&P 500 was 3.1% lower in another wipeout, and the index at the center of many 401(k) accounts is more than 16% below its record set two months ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,138 points, or 2.9%.
Several Big Tech stocks helped lead indexes lower ahead of their latest earnings reports due later this week.
Tesla sank 7.4%. The electric vehicle’s stock came into Monday roughly 50% below its record set in December on criticism that its stock price had gone too high and that its brand has become too entwined with Elon Musk, who’s leading the U.S. government’s efforts to cut spending.
Nvidia fell 6.1% and was on track for a third straight drop after disclosing that new U.S. export limits on chips to China could hurt its first-quarter results by $5.5 billion. It was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500. A 3.4% drop for Apple, 2.5% fall for Microsoft and 4% slide for Amazon were close behind.
Among Wall Street’s few gainers was Discover Financial Services, which climbed after the U.S. government approved its proposed merger with Capital One Financial. Discover rose 2.7%, while Capital One edged higher by 0.7%.
Gold was also rising, burnishing its reputation as a safe-haven investment, unlike some others.
In the bond market, shorter-term Treasury yields fell as investors keep alive hopes that the Fed may cut its main overnight interest rate later this year in order to support the economy. Longer-term yields swiveled up and down though, as doubts continue to rise about the United States’ standing in the global economy because of Trump’s moves.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury reached 4.40%. That’s up from 4.34% at the end of last week and from just about 4% earlier this month. That’s a substantial move for the bond market.
The U.S. dollar’s value, meanwhile, fell against the euro, Japanese yen, the Swiss franc and other currencies.
