Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Point to More Steep Declines at Monday's Open as Tariff Fears Deepen; Bitcoin Plunges to $76K

Stock futures are down sharply Monday morning, extending last week’s massive sell-off, as the Trump administration showed no signs over the weekend of backing down from its plan to impose wide-ranging tariffs.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were recently down 2.2%, or more than 800 points.  S&P 500 futures were off 2.4%, while those linked to the tech-heavy Nasdaq retreated 2.7%. Dow futures had fallen as much as 1,600 points shortly after trading got underway Sunday evening,

The major indexes are coming off their worst week since the early days of the Covid pandemic in March 2020, after stocks plunged on Thursday and Friday following President Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners. The benchmark S&P 500 declined 10.5% over the last two days of the week, while the Dow shed nearly 4,000 points.

Trump and other White House officials have provided no indication in recent days that the tariffs could be scaled back. Trump seemed to double down on his tariffs Sunday night, telling reporters aboard Air Force One, “I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” according to reports.

The so-called reciprocal tariffs that Trump announced on Wednesday— which include new levies of 20% on imports from the European Union, 26% on Japanese imports, and 34% on imports from China—are due to take effect on Wednesday.

The Trump administration, which has also indicated more sector-specific tariffs are coming, says the measures are needed to restore competitive balance and bring manufacturing and jobs back to the U.S. However, the speed and depth of the policies announced in recent weeks—and the prospect that countries will retaliate, as China did on Friday—have heightened concerns among economists and investors that the economy could slide into a recession.

EV maker Tesla (TSLA) was leading the decliners among mega-cap technology stocks this morning, falling 7%. Chipmakers Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO) fell 5% and 4%, respectively, while Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN) and Meta Platforms (META) were down about 3%, and Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG) both fell about 2%.

Among other noteworthy tech sector decliners, data analytics software provider Palantir (PLTR) dropped 8% in heavy trading, while chipmakers Intel (INTC), Micron (MU) and Marvell Technology (MRVL) each slipped about 4%.

Banking sector stocks remained under pressure this morning after posting steep declines late last week. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Goldman Sachs (GS) each declined more than 2% ahead of the bell.

Strategy (MSTR), formerly known as MicroStrategy and one of the world’s largest holders of bitcoin, and trading platform Robinhood Markets (HOOD) both dropped more than 10% in premarket trading as the price of the digital currency plunged.

Bitcoin was trading at $76,500, down from about $84,000 on Friday afternoon. The legacy cryptocurrency is trading at its lowest level since around the time of the presidential election in early November, as investors reduce their exposure to risky assets.

Crude oil futures also continued sliding as the concerns rise about the possibility of a dramatic slowdown in global economic activity. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, were down 2.7% at $60.35 recently, after hitting a four-year low.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which has fallen sharply in recent weeks amid the mounting concerns about a recession, were down slightly at 3.98% this morning. The yield, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, fell as low as 3.86% during Friday’s session, its lowest level since October.