March’s stock market selloff showed no signs of easing Thursday as major indexes closed at their lowest points of the year, sending the S&P 500 into a correction amid intensifying backlash to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which have resulted in retaliatory measures from Canada, China and the European Union.
The larger stock market selloff began last week and has continued since. (Photo by Spencer ... [+]
The S&P 500 fell 1.4% on Thursday, marking its lowest point of the year and sliding into a market correction, as it is now down 10.1% from the all-time high it reached less than a month ago.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also hit a year-to-date low, closing down 537 points.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid nearly 2%, marking its lowest point so far this year.
The losses continue a larger market selloff that began last week, bringing the Dow and S&P 500 to their lowest intraday prices since September.
The slump follows Trump’s 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports that took effect Wednesday, which were met with tens of billions of dollars’ worth of retaliatory tariffs from the European Union and Canada.
In response to retaliatory trading measures from the U.S. allies, Trump ratcheted up threats for more counter-tariffs against the EU and Canada, threatening Thursday to introduce a 200% tariff on wines, champagne and other alcohol products imported to the U.S. from European Union countries.
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Shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla, which has experienced a rough week of trading, closed down 3% Thursday to $240.68, erasing its gains from Wednesday. The electrical vehicle maker, led by billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk, is down around 40% year-to-date.
A correction is when markets drop 10% or more from peak levels. What is particularly notable about the S&P 500’s correction is that it comes less than a month after its all-time high of 6,144.15 in February. Jeff Buchbinder, chief equity strategist at LPL Financial, said in a note the S&P 500 usually experiences three setbacks between 5% and 10% every year on average.
Trump’s 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports took effect Wednesday morning. Canada then announced its own trade duties on roughly $21 billion worth of American goods, including levies on about $8.8 billion of steel products and $2.1 billion of aluminum goods. The longtime U.S. ally also briefly imposed a 25% surcharge on electricity from Ontario going to about 1.5 million homes and businesses in the U.S and later suspended the charges after Trump threatened to increase steel and aluminum tariffs to 50%. The European Union plans to impose retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. in April. China has also levied its own retaliatory tariffs, imposing 15% trade duties on U.S. chicken, wheat, corn and cotton and 10% tariffs on other agricultural products after Trump enacted a 10% tariff on Chinese products.
Trump’s Tariffs Trigger Clash Between China And Walmart—What To Know (Forbes)
Trump Threatens 200% Tariff On EU Alcohol—Including French Wine (Forbes)
Trump Tariff Backlash: Canada, EU Retaliate Over Steel And Aluminum Tariffs (Forbes)