Dow falls 649 points, S&P, Nasdaq slide on tariff fears

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Monday hours before President Trump’s 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico are set to go live at midnight.

The Dow Jones Industrial fell nearly 700 points or 1.48%, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.6% and the S&P 500 1.7%.

Most active stocks included Nvidia, which lost 8% and Intel, a rival to TSMC fell 4% and Ford nearly 2%. 

“No room left for Mexico or for Canada. No, the tariffs, you know, they’re all set. They go into effect tomorrow,” Trump said, taking questions after announcing TSMC’s $100 billion investment in the U.S. to “build state of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing facilities” mostly in Arizona. 

TARIFFS ON CANADA, MEXICO KICK-IN TUESDAY

“It’s going to be very costly for people to take advantage of this country. They can’t come in and steal our money and steal our jobs and take our factories and take our businesses and expect not to be punished, and they’re being punished by tariffs,” he added. 

Technology and energy stocks paced the selling, while consumer staples and healthcare, defensive plays, posted fractional gains. 

The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to a three-month low of 4.2%.

Along with tariffs, disappointing manufacturing data also rattled the markets. The ISM new orders index fell for the first time in six months, while the employment index remains in contraction for eight of the last nine months. 

The U.S. economy may be staring down a slowdown. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow forecast, which measures growth expectations in real-time, is showing a 2.8% drop for the first quarter of 2025. Last week, consumer confidence saw the biggest drop in nearly four years.

Oil slipped over 2% to $68.28 per barrel, while gold inched up 1.85% to $2,901 an ounce.

TRUMP ADVANCES CRYPTO RESERVE PLAN

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin reversed earlier gains after Trump on Sunday announced plans for a crypto strategic reserve. Prices hovered below $90,000, down from a record $106,734.