It’s been one of the most chaotic stretches for US markets in recent memory.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) has fallen more than 10% in just three days. The three-day collapse in stocks following President Trump’s tariff announcement sits just below the top 10 worst sell-offs since World War II, per Yahoo Finance data.
The only three-day periods that brought stocks lower came in 1987, 1998, 2008, 2011 and 2020.
On Monday, the S&P gained roughly 8% in less than 30 minutes on a false report that President Trump was considering a 90-day pause on his tariff rollout. The White House quickly denied the reports, categorizing any potential tariff pause as “fake news.”
The trading action showed how chaotic global markets have become since Trump announced plans to spike the US tariff rate to its highest level in more than a century.
The S&P 500 is now on the brink of a bear market, down about 17% from its most recent all-time high. Many of the largest stocks in the market are all off more than 20% from their most recent all-time highs. Oil prices have cratered to their lowest level in nearly four years, and overseas markets have suffered under the weight of the impact.
Below are some of the most eye-popping charts from one of Wall Street’s most aggressive sell-offs in the past 100 years.
On April 2, Trump laid out his long-awaited plans to slap reciprocal tariffs on countries around the world, with the new levies ranging from a 10% “baseline” tariff to additional duties for nations the administration considers to be the “worst offenders.”
All told, Trump announced tariffs that will impact some 185 countries, including the United States’s largest trading partners. Additional reciprocal tariffs, for instance, will include 34% tariffs on Chinese imports, a 20% tariff on European Union imports, a 46% tariff on imports from Vietnam, 32% on imports from Taiwan, and 26% on India — all set to take effect on April 9.
In the latest escalation of his trade war, Trump threatened China with an additional 50% tariff if Beijing did not remove the retaliatory 34% levies on US imports the country announced last week.
Other countries have begun to announce their own retaliations and negotiation plans with the US as investors brace for more pain over the coming days and weeks.
Just as the “Magnificent Seven” stocks helped lead the bull market higher over the past two years, the market’s leaders have been at the forefront of the massive leg lower too.
