While President Trump delivered remarks to a crowd in Ohio on Monday afternoon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 1500 points in a financial market freefall. The numbers have recovered slightly as of this writing, but on the heels of dropping below 25,000 for the first time since early January last week, the markets aren’t expected to make a full recovery from Monday’s losses. According to CNN, “volatility emerged last week as investors grew more worried about turmoil in the bond market caused by inflation concerns.” Judging by Monday’s staggering drop, it seems said volatility is here to stay:
If the decline holds, it will be the worst single-day point decline in Dow history. The Dow fell 777 points on September 29, 2008.
It will also be the first two-day drop totaling 1,000 points for the Dow since August 2015, when investors were worried about the Chinese economy. The Dow was much lower then, so the decline was significantly worse in percentage terms.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq plummeted one percent before briefly recovering itself and dropping again. “People are dealing with the shock of seeing real inflation for the first time in a while,” an investment strategist told CNN. Another remarked that the stock market “was overbought and ripe for something to undermine its tranquility.” After all, with unemployment numbers being so low and new significant (corporate) tax cuts being implemented by the Trump administration and Congress, current markets have a lot to lose. Hence why many experts have “urged calm” as these volatile times continue.
UPDATE #1 – 4:05 p.m. ET: According to CNBC, the Dow had plunged over 1100 points (its worst single-day decline ever at just over 4.6 percent) by the time the closing bell had rung.
BREAKING: Dow closes down more than 1100 points or more than 4.6%; S&P 500 also closes down 4% and Nasdaq ends lower by 3.7%. https://t.co/IWU26VtpSz pic.twitter.com/S6yOZz6ldu
— CNBC (@CNBC) February 5, 2018