U.S. stocks careened after President Donald Trump threatened to crank his tariffs higher on Monday.
The S&P 500 was down 0.8% in late trading, but only after a day of heart-racing reversals as battered financial markets try to figure out what Trump's ultimate goal is for his trade war. If it's to get other countries to agree to trade deals, he could lower his tariffs and avoid a possible recession. But if it's to remake the economy and stick with tariffs for the long haul, stock prices may need to fall further.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 563 points, or 1.5%, with a little less than an hour remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower.
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Market volatility shows that investors are still hoping for tariff negotiations
Trump has given several reasons for his stiff tariffs, including to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, which is a process that could take years. Trump on Sunday said he wanted to bring down the numbers for how much more the United States imports from other countries versus how much it sends to them.
Indexes nevertheless did keep swinging between losses and gains Monday, in part because hope still remains in markets that negotiations may still come.