By investopedia

U.S. stock futures fell sharply on Sunday evening as the Trump administration showed no signs of backing off from a wide-ranging plan to impose tariffs.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were recently down 2.2%, pointing to a decline of more than 800 points at Monday's open, while futures linked to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 2.7% and 3.4%, respectively. Dow futures had been down more than 1,600 points at one point 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.

White House officials provided no indication over the weekend that the president would consider scaling back on the tariffs. 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.

Speaking Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the tariffs announced last week were higher than expected and raise the risks both of inflation rising and economic growth slowing. Powell said the Fed is awaiting greater clarity on the impact of Trump's policies before considering adjustments to interest rates.

Asian stocks also tumbled to kick off their week amid fears of the consequences of a trade war, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down 9%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 6% and South Korea's Kospi index and Australia's S&P ASX 200 each fell more than 4%.

Bitcoin was also down sharply Sunday, tracking the move lower in equities as investors abandon risky assets. The digital currency was at $78,700 recently, down from an earlier high on Sunday of nearly $84,000 and trading at its lowest levels since early November.

Crude oil prices also retreated amid the growing concerns about slowing global demand. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, fell 2.6% to $60.40 per barrel, after falling as low as $59.38, their lowest level since last April.