Wall Street slumps as Trump’s tariff turmoil continues to weigh on markets

The market ended Tuesday’s session lower despite staging a partial recovery in the final hour of trading.

Concerns about the global economic outlook and fears of a potential recession, driven by ongoing trade tensions, weighed on investor sentiment throughout the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 478.23 points, or 1.14%, to close at 41,433.48.

The index fluctuated significantly during the session, hitting a low of 41,175.37 and reaching as high as 41,868.27 before settling lower.

The S&P 500 declined 42.49 points, or 0.76%, to finish at 5,572.07.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite slipped 32.23 points, or 0.18%, to 17,436.10. The tech-heavy index had rebounded to 17,687.40 in the final hour, recovering from an earlier low of 17,238.24.

President Donald Trump downplayed concerns about the recent market decline, stating, “Markets are going to go up and they’re going to go down but, you know what, we have to rebuild our country.”

His comments came after the Dow fell 890 points and the S&P 500 dropped 2.7% on Monday.

During a Fox News interview on Sunday, Trump declined to rule out the possibility of a recession, which added to investor concerns.

Markets show some signs of recovery

Investor sentiment showed signs of improvement late in the session after President Donald Trump signaled a possible reversal of his plan to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.

The shift followed Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s decision to suspend a proposed 25% surcharge on electricity exports to the US.

Ford’s announcement came ahead of a scheduled meeting on Thursday between U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Ford to discuss the North American trade agreement.

A senior White House official confirmed that the higher tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports would not take effect as initially planned, providing a brief lift to the markets.

Despite the late-day recovery, broader concerns about economic growth persisted.

The Labor Department reported that US job openings rose to 7.74 million in January, exceeding expectations and improving from a downwardly revised figure of 7.51 million in December.

Economists had forecast a smaller increase to 7.63 million.

Investors are now awaiting key economic data later in the week, including reports on consumer and producer price inflation, as well as consumer sentiment and inflation expectations, which could offer further insights into the economic outlook.

Movers on Tuesday

Delta Air Lines cut its earnings outlook on Tuesday, citing weaker US demand, which added to recession concerns and pushed its stock down 7.3%.

Travel-related stocks followed suit, with Disney and Airbnb both dropping 5%.

Several other major stocks also faced declines, including Verizon, Moderna, ResMed, Texas Instruments, IBM, Apple, Oracle, and Chevron.

In contrast, Southwest Airlines rose 8% after announcing plans to introduce a new basic fare tier.

Tesla gained over 3%, while Boeing, Netflix, Micron Technology, Salesforce, Wells Fargo, and Amazon also ended the day with gains.

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