The mainstream media will seize this sharp stock market decline as a golden opportunity to shift the blame for the financial turmoil away from the Fed and the previous administration onto Trump for promoting his tariffs and cutbacks in government spending...
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Recession fears roil markets amid Trump’s tariffs. What investors need to hear from Fed’s Powell on Friday.
The Fed chair’s remarks and the March nonfarm-payroll report on Friday will need to deliver for a stock market reeling from a brutal selloff
By Isabel Wang
MarketWatch
Published: April 3, 2025

[snip]
It seems there are very few places to hide in the financial markets right now.

The U.S. stock market was in free fall on Thursday, with investors getting crushed in a seemingly relentless selloff after President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs stoked fears that an escalating trade war could lead to a recession in the world’s largest economy.

The S&P 500 (SPX -3.90%) was tumbling 3.3% in midday trading, on pace for its worst day since September 2022, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA -3.02%) was falling over 1,200 points, or 2.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite COMP-5.01% was slumping 4.5%, according to FactSet data.

Small-cap stocks were also getting slaughtered, with the benchmark Russell 2000 index (RUT -5.73%) off over 5.5% to trade at 1,931 as of 12 p.m. Eastern time, according to FactSet. The index is on pace to officially enter bear-market territory, with the threshold at 1,953.62 for the small-cap index to mark a 20% decline from its recent peak at the close.