How ‘Trump mulling 90-day tariff pause' report triggered chaos in US markets

The White House on Monday rejected as “false” reports that Donald Trump was mulling a 90-day halt to tariffs on all nations except China.

Reuters, citing a CNBC story, reported that White House Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett had stated that Trump was thinking of pausing the imposition of his tariffs on all nations, except China, for three months.

The US markets, which witnessed a steep decline in early trade, made a recovery because of the report. However, gains swiftly reversed after the White House disputed the rumors and referred to them as “false” and “fake news,” reported CNBC.

Trump tariffs: Oil and stock markets see a decline

Meanwhile, Trump shared on social media a video of Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo declaring, “Rates are plummeting, oil prices are plummeting, deregulation is happening.”

Bartiromo further stated in the video that Trump will not compromise, causing panic in the world market.

Oil and stock markets witnessed a decline on Monday as Trump reaffirmed his tariff stance in the face of recessionary concerns. In recent sessions, the aggregate value of the stock market notably depleted about trillions of dollars.

In a social media post, Trump urged Americans to “be strong, courageous, and patient,” just minutes before the New York stock market opened to declines of more than three percent, as waves of additional selling swept through trading floors across the world following last week's severe losses.

Also Read: Federal Reserve announces ‘closed board meeting’ amid Trump tariff tensions; When is it?

Trump tariffs: Stock market plummets again after brief surge

Wall Street stocks wavered between rising and falling as investors attempted to gauge the possible harm from Trump's international trade war.

The chaos occurred as Jim Cramer, a market analyst and host of a CNBC show, issued a warning to investors about a catastrophe akin to Black Monday on April 7.

As soon as trading started, the S&P 500 fell 4.7%, reflecting even more severe declines for global financial markets amid worries that Trump's tariffs might destroy the international economy. However, it abruptly overturned all of that and soared to a profit of 3.4%, which would have been its biggest day in years. The index that forms the foundation of many investors' 401(k) plans gave that up almost as fast, with lunchtime trade showing it was about flat.

Several U.S. stock indexes also experienced alarming trading. Before closing at a loss of 272 points, or 0.7%, as of 11 a.m.. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed over 900 points after losing 1,700 points. The Nasdaq composite experienced a 0.7% increase.

Wall Street's main indexes see massive surge before White House statement

After Kevin Hassett's 90-day tariff moratorium alert, Wall Street's major indexes saw a strong increase before plummeting again as the White House referred to the announcement as “fake news.”

Wall Street opened lower after its worst week since COVID-19 started to devastate the world economy in March 2020.

Before trading started, the S&P 500 was on the verge of hitting bear market territory, which is characterized by a decline of more than 20% from the top. Before the opening of the markets, the Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all recovered some of their losses.

The index was down 17.4% at the end of the previous week.