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CNN
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US stocks slid Thursday and the S&P 500 enteredcorrection territory, down 10% from its record high in February, as President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on the European Union.
The Dow slid by 530points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 fell 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite was 2.1% lower.
If the S&P closes at 5,529.73 or below, it will be considered a market correction.
Trump on Thursday threatened to impose a 200% tariff on alcoholic beverages from the European Union after the bloc on Wednesday imposed a 50% tariff on US spirits like bourbon. The EU’s tariff on US spirits was in retaliation for Trump’s sweeping 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Markets initially shrugged off tariff news on Wednesday, but the slide resumed Thursday as the trade spat between Washington and Brussels escalated. It extends a rout in US markets that has been driven by the uncertainty around Trump’s tariff announcements.
A worker removes bottles of American-made Tito’s vodka from a shelf at a Liquor Control Board of Ontario store in Toronto on March 4.
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“Tariff uncertainty has captured most of the blame for the selling pressure and is exacerbating economic growth concerns,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial, in a note Thursday.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday on CNBC that he is not concerned about “a little bit of volatility over three weeks.”
Bessent said the Trump administration is focused on the “real economy” and the outlook for the long term.
Wall Street’s fear gauge, the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, surged this week to its highest level since December. “Extreme fear” has been the sentiment driving markets since the end of February, according to CNN’s Fear and Greed Index.
The benchmark S&P 500 is down more than 6% this year, lagging indexes in Europe and Asia.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
