Topline
Pessimism on the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and renewed fears of a related recession pressured stocks again Monday, providing a fitting end to a brutal month and quarter for equities.
March is shaping out to be the worst month for the S&P 500 since September 2022, erasing more than … More
Key Facts
All three major indexes dropped Monday morning, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the bellwether S&P 500 fell more than 1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq sank more than 2% by midmorning, before storming back in a rocky session that ended with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P in the green and the Nasdaq in the red.
On the final day of March and 2025’s first quarter, the losses are staggering: The Dow fell 5% this month and 2% this quarter, the S&P 6% in March and 5% this quarter and the Nasdaq 8% this month and 10% this quarter.
March was the S&P’s and Nasdaq’s biggest monthly percentage declines since December 2022 and capped off the indexes’ worst quarters since 2022.
The S&P briefly re-entered correction territory Monday, trading more than 10% below its Feb. 19 all-time closing high and hitting its lowest intraday level since early September.
Again driving losses Monday morning were comments from Trump on his looming reciprocal tariffs, saying they will target “all countries,” which Goldman Sachs predicts will worsen inflation and threaten a recession; Goldman strategists lowered their three-month price target for the S&P to 5,300, forecasting a further 4% loss for the index by the end of June.
Monday’s Biggest Losers Include Tesla And Nvidia
Shares of Tesla and Nvidia fell 1% and 2%, respectively, fittingly headlining the end of month and quarter selloff. Tesla stock is down 15% this month and 38% year-to-date, almost matching Nvidia stock’s 16% March loss and 22% drop this quarter. Shares of other AI-heavy stocks including Amazon, Broadcom and Palantir also fell at least 1% on Monday.
Big Number
More than $3 trillion. That’s about how much market value companies listed on the S&P lost in March, according to FactSet data. That’s equivalent to the erasure of the total market capitalization of Apple, the world’s largest company.
Contra
Gold notched another record high of more than $3,100 per troy ounce Monday, extending its rally as investors cash in on riskier equities and pile into the safe haven precious metal. Gold is up nearly 20% in 2025’s opening quarter and is on pace for its best quarter since 1986, according to FactSet.
Key Background
Stocks initially soared after Trump secured a second term in November – the S&P rose 5% in the month following Election Day – as Wall Street cheered what a more lax regulatory environment and friendlier corporate tax rates would mean for stock valuations. But the tariffs pursued by Trump since taking office, and the uncertainty surrounding the often shifting trade policies, have proven wildly unpopular among investors. Tariffs hurt many stocks as companies contend with higher imported prices and decide to either absorb tariff costs or pass them on to consumers, either scenario weighing on profits as input costs and demand both take potential hits. Trump has publicly paid little attention to Wall Street losses, saying earlier this month, “Markets are going to go up and they’re going to go down, we have to rebuild this country.”
Further Reading
