The S&P 500 dropped sharply on Tuesday, closing below 5,000 points for the first time in almost a year after reversing an early morning rally. Investors’ hopes faded for any last-minute delays or concessions on tariffs before a midnight deadline.
The benchmark index, which fell 1.6% on Tuesday, has lost $5.8 trillion in market value since President Donald Trump announced major global tariffs against U.S. trading partners late last Wednesday. This represented more than a 12% decline over four days, making it the biggest four-day percentage drop since the pandemic, according to LSEG data.
The S&P had risen more than 4% earlier on Tuesday as investors hoped Trump might soften his stance or postpone the April 9 tariff deadline.
But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday afternoon that Trump expects tariffs will go into effect despite nearly 70 countries reaching out to begin negotiations to reduce the impact of U.S. trade policies.
The White House said Tuesday afternoon that it expects 104% tariffs on China to take effect on April 9.
This came after China had stated earlier that it would never accept the “blackmail nature” of Trump’s threat to increase tariffs on Chinese imports to more than 100%.
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