WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved notably lower during trading on Monday, extending the pullback seen over the past few sessions. With the continued decrease, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have fallen to their lowest intraday levels in over six months.
Currently, the Nasdaq is down 344.26 points or 2.0 percent at 16,978.73 and the S&P 500 is down 51.48 points or 0.9 percent at 5,529.46. The narrower Dow is posting a more modest loss, down 54.83 points or 0.1 percent at 41,529.07.
The extended pullback on Wall Street comes amid ongoing concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trade partners, which are due to be imposed on Wednesday, April 2nd.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that the reciprocal tariffs would target all countries and not just a smaller group with the biggest trade imbalances.
'You'd start with all countries,' Trump said. 'Essentially all of the countries that we're talking about.'
Traders worry Trump's tariffs and possible retaliatory actions by targeted countries will fuel inflation, keep interest rates elevated and drag down global economic growth.
On the U.S. economic front, MNI Indicators released a report showing an unexpected increase by its reading on Chicago-area business activity in the month of March.
MNI Indicators said its Chicago business barometer climbed to 47.6 in March from 45.5 in February. Economists had expected the reading to dip to 44.1.
With the increase, the index reached its highest level since November 2023, although it remained in contraction territory for the sixteenth successive month.
Sector News
Airline stocks have moved sharply lower on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index plummeting by 3.7 percent to its lowest intraday level in over six months.
Substantial weakness is also visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 2.7 percent plunge by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index. With the steep drop, the index has fallen to a seven-month intraday low.
Computer hardware, semiconductor and networking stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, contributing to the slump the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Brokerage, steel and retail stocks have also shown notable moves to the downside, while biotechnology, oil producer and utilities stocks are bucking the downtrend.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 4.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped by 1.3 percent.
The major European markets have also shown significant moves to the downside. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 1.0 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are down by 1.6 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are extending the strong upward move seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.4 basis points at 4.221 percent.
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