Wall Street is fed up with Trump’s tariffs

As Wall Street heads into a new quarter, a flurry of President Donald Trump’s tariffs are set to go into effect. That has traders on edge and has helped put US stocks in their worst first-quarter slump in years.

Wall Street has been rocked with volatility this year as Trump’s tariff proposals have kept investors in a cloud of uncertainty. The benchmark S&P 500 index is down more than 5% for the year, its worst start since 2020.

US stocks were mixed Monday. By midday the Dow was up by around 50 points, or 0.1%, reversing course after opening lower by about 300 points. The S&P 500 was lower by 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.3%. The S&P 500 briefly reentered correction territory Monday morning, down more than 10% from its record high in February, and dropped to its lowest level since September.

Stocks around the globe were lower Monday ahead of Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” this Wednesday when reciprocal tariffs in addition to others are set to go into effect. Economists anticipate the sweeping tariffs could spur inflation and drag on economic growth.

The full extent of Trump’s tariffs is yet to be seen, and the lack of clarity has weighed on Wall Street. Market strategists have been revising down their forecasts for US stocks amid heightened concerns about the impact of Trump’s tariffs on the US economy.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs on Sunday lowered their year-end target for the S&P 500 to 5,700 from 6,200. That comes after analysts at the bank earlier this month lowered their target to 6,200 from 6,500.

Analysts at Barclays last week lowered their year-end target for the S&P 500 to 5,900 from 6,600. Meanwhile, analysts at UBS lowered their year-end target to 6,400 from 6,600.

Ed Yardeni, president of investment advisory Yardeni Research, on Sunday lowered his year-end target for the S&P 500 to 6,100 from 6,400. Yardeni earlier this month had lowered it to 6,400 from 7,000.

The economy faces a growing risk of a recession as tariffs could hinder growth, increase unemployment and contribute to inflation, according to Goldman Sachs. The bank on Sunday said it sees a 35% chance of a recession in the next 12 months, up from 20% previously.

The US dollar index, which measures the dollar’s strength against six foreign currencies, is down almost 4% this year, its worst start to any year since 2016.

Oil prices surged after Trump on Sunday said he would put secondary tariffs on “all oil coming out of Russia” if a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war doesn’t come together and he thinks it was Russia’s fault. West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, surged 3.5% on Monday to $71.80 a barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark, gained 3% to hit $75 a barrel.

Gold surged to a fresh record high. The most actively traded gold futures contract in New York on Monday rose above a record high $3,150 a troy ounce. Gold is considered a safe haven amid economic turmoil and a hedge against inflation. The yellow metal is up almost 20% this year and on track for its best quarter since 1986, according to FactSet data.