Dow Futures Drop 1,500 Points on Sunday as Trump Tariff Impact Intensifies: Live Updates

U.S. stock futures declined on Sunday evening as the White House maintained its stance, despite experiencing a historic two-day market decline triggered by President Donald Trump’s announcement of unexpectedly high tariff rates on several major U.S. trading partners.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,531 points, equivalent to a 4% decline Sunday evening, indicating a tough trading session ahead on Monday. Similarly, S&P 500 futures fell by 4%, and Nasdaq-100 futures lost 4% as well.

Don’t miss CNBC’s live special report on U.S. markets at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday.

This downturn follows a significant market crash at the close of last week:

• The Dow recorded consecutive losses exceeding 1,500 points for the first time ever, including a staggering 2,231-point drop on Friday.
• The S&P 500 experienced a 6% decline on Friday, marking its worst performance since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. In just two days, the benchmark lost 10%, which brought it more than 17% below its record from February, nearing the threshold for a 20% bear market.
• The Nasdaq Composite entered a bear market on Friday, down 22% from its peak, suffering nearly 6% losses on both Thursday and Friday.

Investors were hoping over the weekend for news that the Trump administration was successfully negotiating with countries to reduce the tariff rates or, at the very least, considering a delay for the impending reciprocal tariffs set to take effect on April 9. However, instead of alleviating concerns, the president and his key advisors downplayed the selling pressure:

• Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday, urging people to “hang tough” and referring to this period as an “economic revolution.”
• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS News that the tariffs would not be delayed, stating, “The tariffs are coming… They are definitely going to stay in place for days and weeks.”
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent informed NBC News that over 50 countries had sought negotiations, but warned that “they’ve been bad actors for a long time, and it’s not the kind of issue you can negotiate away quickly.”

Investors were initially caught off guard by the steep tariffs imposed on trading partners, which seemed to have been established using a formula lacking a solid basis in established economic theory. The situation worsened when China retaliated on Friday with a 34% tariff on all U.S. imports instead of engaging in negotiations.

“Trump’s Liberation Day last Wednesday resulted in devastating market effects on Thursday and Friday, as stock market vigilantes expressed their disapproval of Trump’s tariff regime,” stated Ed Yardeni, president and chief investment strategist of Yardeni Research, in a note to clients on Sunday.

Although the administration reported that at least 50 nations have initiated negotiations, Canada and the European Union are preparing to follow China’s strategy of imposing retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. Meanwhile, Vietnam has reportedly offered to eliminate tariffs on U.S. imports to zero, but this seems to be more of an exception than a trend.

Concerns mounted on Wall Street that the market decline would perpetuate itself, forcing hedge funds to liquidate equities and other high-risk assets to generate cash and meet margin calls. There was also apprehension that the rapid downturn in the stock market could create a negative cycle affecting U.S. consumers even before the tariffs had a chance to take effect.

“The decline in stock prices since Liberation Day heightens the probability that the resulting negative wealth effect will reduce consumer spending, which increases the likelihood of a recession, further leading to lower stock prices,” Yardeni explained.

The price of bitcoin, which typically moves similarly to major tech stocks but had resisted the overall market downturn for the week, fell below $80,000 on Sunday. Aside from a few brief drops below that level, the leading cryptocurrency has predominantly remained above it throughout this year.