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The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down roughly 1,250 points on Monday, April 7. The massive drop continued the market freefall that happened in the aftermath of Trump's "liberation day" announcement.
Soon after trading opened, the Dow surged back into the green by around 10:15 a.m. The bounce back appeared to be in response to social media posts claiming Trump was considering a 90-day pause on the new tariffs for every country but China, citing National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that Trump is considering the pause, telling CNBC that the report was "fake news." The Dow then returned to the red, back to being down about 1,100 points by 11:30 a.m.
The stock market whiplash came after Trump doubled down on his trade war policies.
"Countries from all over the World are talking to us," the President posted on his social media platform Truth Social at 9:27 a.m. "Tough but fair parameters are being set."
Trump also claimed that he spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who would send a "top team to negotiate."
"They have treated the U.S. very poorly on Trade," Trump posted. "They don't take our cars, but we take MILLIONS of theirs. Likewise Agriculture, and many other "things." It all has to change, but especially with CHINA!!!"
Monday’s turbulence followed a massive market crash that started on Thursday, April 3. One day earlier, Trump announced a global tariff package that includes a minimum 10% duty on goods from roughly 185 countries and a 25% tax on all foreign-made cars and light trucks.
China's effective import duty was elevated to 54%. Dozens of countries also saw escalating tariff rates, which are set to begin on Wednesday, April 9.
Trump has also threatened an additional 50% tariff if China doesn't remove its 34% retaliatory tariff on the US that it announced on Sunday, April 6.
"Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!" Trump said in a Truth Social post at 11:14 a.m. "Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately."
The sweeping tariff announcement, made on what Trump called "liberation day," wiped out about $6.6 trillion from US equity markets in two days and triggered the worst trading day for Big Tech since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Markets plummeted despite stronger-than-expected jobs numbers. The US added 228,000 nonfarm payrolls in March, but the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Major banks, including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, increased their recession odds. JPMorgan now sees a 60% chance of a downturn, while Goldman slashed its gross domestic product growth forecast to 1.0%.
As of 11:30 a.m., the S&P 500 was down about 118 points and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 291 points on the day.
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