US stocks plunge as fears grow over impact of tariffs

US stocks plunged on Monday as fears grew over an economic slowdown, after President Donald Trump did not rule out a recession.

The Nasdaq sank by 4.0% at the close of trading, its largest single-day loss since 2022, and there were heavy losses on other markets with tech stocks seeing the largest drops.

Tesla shares fell about 15.4%, while chipmaker Nvidia was down more than 5%. Other major tech stocks including Meta, Amazon and Alphabet also sank.

The S&P 500 Index slid 2.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.1%.

It comes after Trump said the US economy was in a period of transition, after he was asked about concerns over a potential recession.

Speaking to Fox News in an interview broadcast on Sunday but recorded on Thursday, Trump appeared to acknowledge the concerns. “I hate to predict things like that,” he said. “There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big. We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing.”

There are growing fears among economic analysts that growth will slow and prices will rise.

Last week, the main US markets fell back to the level before Trump’s election victory last November, which had initially been welcomed investors due to hopes of tax cuts and lighter regulation.