U.S. stocks join global selloff on rising recession worries as Trump holds firm on tariffs

Global stock markets plummet as trade war fears spark economic slowdown, with Wall Street opening sharply lower.

Wall Street stocks opened sharply lower Monday (April 7, 2025), joining a global selloff on worries that a trade war induced by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs will spark a global economic slowdown.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.6% at 36,947.62.

Stock market crash updates: April 7, 2025

The broad-based S&P 500 tumbled 3.5% to 4,897.96, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 3.7% to 15,017.24.

Equity markets have been in free fall since Trump’s announcement Wednesday unveiling sweeping tariffs on trading partners that were far more impactful than markets expected.

The losses pushed Nasdaq into a bear market last week with the other two indices not far behind. A bear market is defined as a 20% drop from a recent peak.

“In the short term we are very very very oversold and we’re overdue to bounce,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments. “In the event that we can’t bounce, that tells us we’re probably going lower.”