Market panic mounts as world scrambles to temper Trump tariffs

US oil prices dropped below US$60 a barrel for the first time since April 2021, even with countries seeking compromise on tariffs

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A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:40am, 7 Apr 2025Updated: 8:38am, 7 Apr 2025

Wall Street was bracing for significant losses at the start of the week over US President Donald Trump’s punishing tariffs on exports to the United States, as oil prices plummeted at the weekend even with countries seeking compromise.

Trump has remained defiant since unleashing the blitz of tariffs on stunned nations around the world on Wednesday, insisting that his policies “will never change” even as markets went into a tailspin.

Futures contracts for the New York Stock Exchange’s main boards were sharply down on Sunday, suggesting more pain for battered Wall Street stocks when markets open on Monday, while US oil dropped below US$60 a barrel for the first time since April 2021.

A little over half an hour after the contracts resumed trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.56 per cent, while the broader S&P 500 index was down 3.85 per cent.

Trump said on Sunday the violent falls in US and global markets showed the “medicine” of his trade tariff barrage was working.

“Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he returned to Washington from a weekend of golfing in Florida, adding that trade partners were “coming to the table” and “want to talk”.