Global Stock Markets Plunge Amid Tariff Fears: S P 500 Nears Bear Market Territory, Asian Markets Suffer Steepest Losses Since 1997

U.S. stocks plummeted on Monday, with the S&P 500 down 3.5% to 4,897 points as of 9:47 a.m. EDT, threatening to enter a bear market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.2% (1,212 points), and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.6% (556 points). President Trump's tariffs are blamed for increasing recession risk to 45%, according to Goldman Sachs. Asian markets saw significant declines, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng falling 13.2% (the largest drop since 1997), Taiwan's Taiex plummeting 9.7%, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 tumbling 7.8%, the Shanghai Composite sinking 7.3%, South Korea's Kospi dropping 5.6%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declining 4.2%. European markets also experienced substantial losses, with Germany's DAX down 4.8%, Paris' CAC 40 shedding 5.1%, and Britain's FTSE 100 losing 4.9%.