# Global stock markets register heavy falls as White House tries to talk up Trump tariffs

## Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq and Nikkei all down by at least 2% and Tesla shares fall 15% for worst day since September 2020

### Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq and Nikkei all down by at least 2% and Tesla shares fall 15% for worst day since September 2020

### Global stock markets have continued to fall amid fears that a wide-ranging trade war could dent US economic growth and result in a recession, even as the White House has denied that Trump’s trade policies are causing lasting chaos.

The S&P 500 fell 2.7%, the Dow Jones dropped 2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 4% on Monday as investors sold shares in the so-called “magnificent seven” – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia and Tesla. Tesla’s shares had their worst day since September 2020, falling 15%.

In Asia, stocks took their cue from Wall Street and fell sharply on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei and Taiwan stocks sliding about 3%, hitting their lowest level since September. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell more than 1%.

Even Chinese stocks, which have been on a tear this year, were not immune to the downbeat mood. The blue-chip index fell about 1%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was 1.5% lower.

European futures also pointed to a lower open, with DAX futures down 0.8% and Eurostoxx futures 0.9% lower, suggesting the selloff had more room to go.

The fall came a day after Trump  questions about a potential recession on Sunday. Asked if he expected a recession, Trump said: “There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big … It takes a little time, but I think it should be great for us.”

Kevin Hassett, the head of the national economic council, told CNBC on Monday that any uncertainty around Trump’s trade policies would be resolved by early April and that the policies were “creating jobs in the US”.

“Everyone is talking about uncertainty. Surely there’s uncertainty in exactly how the trade policy will work itself out, but the tax policy is almost sure to work,” Hassett said.

“Trump tariffs policy ‘misguided’ and US economy ‘very wobbly’, ex-adviser says”

David Lutnick, Trump’s commerce secretary, told CNBC: “There’s going to be no recession in America,” comparing doubts about Trump’s trade policies to previous skepticism over Trump winning the election.

“You are going to see over the next two years the greatest set of growth coming from America,” Lutnick said.

_Reuters contributed to this report_
```