US stocks suffered a brutal selloff on Thursday after President Donald Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariff announcement rocked financial markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) plunged over 1,300 points, or 3.2%, marking one of its steepest single-day drops in recent years. The broader S&P 500 (^GSPC) declined more than 4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) plummeted 5.3%, dragged down by fears of global trade disruption.
The meltdown followed Trump’s unveiling of a two-step tariff plan — a baseline 10% tariff on all imports and sharply higher duties on countries labeled as trade offenders, including 34% on China. These measures, set to roll out on April 5 and April 9, push US tariffs to levels not seen in over a century and cover goods from 185 countries.
Tech giants led the collapse. Apple (AAPL) fell over 9%, its worst day since the 2020 pandemic crash, amid fears that new tariffs on China would cripple its supply chain. Nvidia (NVDA) and other chipmakers also saw heavy losses. The so-called “Magnificent Seven” — a group of megacap techs that powered markets over the past two years — collectively shed nearly $800 billion in market capitalization.
Small-cap stocks were not spared either. The Russell 2000 (^RUT) dropped over 5.6%, nearing bear market territory.
Retailers took a pounding, with Target (TGT) and Nike (NKE) both seeing double-digit declines. Globally, equities mirrored the US rout — Europe’s Stoxx 600 tumbled 2.5%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.7%, touching its lowest level since August.
With investor sentiment rattled, markets are now bracing for retaliatory moves from major trading partners and the economic slowdown that could follow.
