Dow drops 800 points to session lows, S&P 500 falls more than 2% as market sell-off intensifies: Live updates

Stocks dropped on Monday as the selling pressures that dragged Wall Street last week persisted, with investors worried about an economic slowdown after President Donald Trump didn’t rule out a recession with U.S. tariffs being implemented.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 814 points, or 1.9%. The S&P 500 shed 2.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 4.3%. Both the 500-stock S&P and tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped to their lowest levels since September 2024.

The Nasdaq was weighed down by declines in the “Magnificent Seven” cohort. Tesla tumbled 13%, while Alphabet, Meta and AI darling Nvidia lost around 5%.

Stocks have been under pressure as investors fret over a possible recession due to tariffs implemented by the Trump administration. Part of the concern is that these levies could drive prices higher, thus making it harder for the Federal Reserve to lower rates. In an interview that aired Sunday, Trump responded to a question on Fox News about the possibility of a recession by saying the economy was going through “a period of transition.”

“We are in the throes of a manufactured correction. I say manufactured because it’s really based in response to the new administration’s tariff programs, or at least threats of tariffs, and what kind of an impact that will have on the economy. Now, with people talking about potential recession, I think it’s just adding to investor concern,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. “Right now we’re going through a typical pullback and probably will experience a mild correction before all is completed, which actually would be good for the resetting of the dials of this ongoing bull market.”

Last week, the S&P 500 lost 3.1% for its worst weekly mark since September. The Dow fell 2.4%, while the Nasdaq shed 3.5%. Over the past month, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are down 6% and 9%, respectively, while the Dow is down 4.5%.

The turbulence could continue this week, with a heavy dose of economic data adding to the list of potential market-moving events. On the inflation front, the February consumer price index, or CPI, release is slated for Wednesday, followed by the producer price index, or PPI, on Thursday. Stovall said that he is optimistic heading into both of these readings.

“What actually could be encouraging to investors is that the Street and our economists are forecasting more favorable readings in both headline and core CPI, and it looks as if ditto for PPI. With the inflation situation cooling off, then that would go a long way in helping to calm investors nerves.,” he said. “The market is approaching an oversold level currently, and so any kind of could good news could trigger at least a counter-trend rally, right? I guess the question then is, is that short term — do we then go back into a decline — or is it just a signal that the worst is over? I think we just have to wait and see.”

Correction: The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) hit its highest level since December 2024. The Dow at one point was down 325 points or 0.8%. An earlier version misstated the percentage.