A renewed wave of volatility hit global markets just days ahead of President Donald Trump’s tariff rollout, with heightened concern about an economic slowdown driving stocks lower as traders rushed to the safety of bonds and gold.
From New York to London and Tokyo, equities came under intense volatility. While the S&P 500 pared most of a slide that approached 2% earlier in the session, US stocks were still about to conclude their worst quarter compared to the rest of the world since the 1980s. In a bid for safety, defensive groups pushed the market away from its lows, while big tech bore the brunt of the selling.


It’s the first time since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 that bonds rose while stocks fell in a three-month period. The dollar, long a go-to hiding place during market selloffs, has not been acting as such this year. The greenback was set for its worst start to a year since 2017.
The Trump administration’s mixed messaging on what new tariffs will be unveiled Wednesday have traders flustered as they try to position around the biggest risk confronting the market in years. The setup is confounding Wall Street, forcing many traders to ditch positions, sell risk for the relative security of sectors that historically perform well in a recession, or flee stocks altogether.
Trump said he plans to start his reciprocal tariff push with “all countries” on April 2, tamping down speculation that he could limit the initial scope of tariffs set to be unveiled April 2.
“Tariffs will likely continue to drive the market discussion,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. “Whether tariffs are more or less rigid than expected could go a long way toward shaping the market’s near-term momentum.”
The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, heading toward its worst quarter since 2022. The Nasdaq 100 slid 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.24%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%. Gold topped $3,100 for the first time.
Amid all the tariff uncertainty, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s David Kostin cut his S&P 500 target, and now expects the benchmark to end the year around 5,700 versus his previous estimate of 6,200.
“If the growth outlook and investor confidence deteriorate even further, valuations could decline much more than we forecast,” Kostin wrote in a note. “We continue to recommend investors watch for an improvement in the growth outlook, more asymmetry in market pricing, or depressed positioning before trying to trade a market bottom.”
The imminent expiration of a huge option position is intensifying the whipsawing moves in equities markets on Monday.
The $20 billion JP Morgan Chase Hedged Equity Fund — which sells calls and buys put spreads to protect investors against large losses in exchange for capping their gains — rolls over its contracts at the end of each quarter. Most of the time the expiry passes with little notice, as the positions are put on well above and below the current market.
Stock market traders have their eyes glued to some key technical charts to get a sense of where the market is headed next as the equities rout becomes increasingly intense over fears of trade uncertainty and slowing economic growth.

The S&P 500 Index briefly sank below the first ominous milestone traders were watching at the start of the session — 5,504.65, the most recent intraday low touched on March 13. But the broad equities benchmark quickly reclaimed that level. The question now is whether it stays there.
Technical strategists also recommend keeping an eye on market breadth, looking for more evidence of washed-out conditions. A 10% or less reading in the percentage of stocks trading above their 20-day moving average would be “a good sign of a capitulation,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial.
In the government bond market, shorter-maturity US securities — among the most sensitive to monetary policy — led gains as traders priced in deeper interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year to support growth. The two-year yield fell as much as eight basis points to 3.83%, nearing a six-month low. The 10-year yield was five basis points lower at 4.20% on Monday, some 60 basis points below a January peak.
A gauge of emerging-market stocks fell 1.6%, the most in a month, on Monday. Taiwan equities were hit especially hard, with the Taiex closing down 4.2% and falling into a correction. The Taiwan dollar fell 0.2%, while South Korea’s won lost 0.3%. Both countries are among 15 economies that Bloomberg economists say could be targeted most by Trump.
Stocks
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The S&P 500 fell 0.5% as of 12:25 p.m. New York time
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The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.2%
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
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The MSCI World Index fell 0.9%
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Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 1.7%
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The Russell 2000 Index fell 1.2%
Currencies
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The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
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The euro fell 0.3% to $1.0794
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The British pound fell 0.4% to $1.2893
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The Japanese yen was little changed at 149.87 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
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Bitcoin rose 1.1% to $83,418.32
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Ether rose 1.5% to $1,841.23
Bonds
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The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.24%
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Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 2.74%
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Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.67%
Commodities
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West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.1% to $71.49 a barrel
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Spot gold rose 1% to $3,114.79 an ounce
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