April 6 (Reuters) - Investors were nervously awaiting
the open of U.S. trading after Wall Street's selloff last week
following the Trump administration's tariffs announcement,
anticipating another week of turbulence as other nations react.
In the two days following Trump's Wednesday tariff
announcement, the benchmark S&P 500 index fell 10.5% and lost
about $5 trillion in market value. It was the biggest two-day
loss since March 2020. Thursday and Friday's steep slide put the
S&P 500 down more than 17% from its February 19 all-time closing
high, and brought it closer to bear market territory, which
would be a 20% decline.
Futures will open at 1800 ET (2200 GMT) Sunday, which
will give an indication of how trading might look on Monday.
"The bull market is dead," said Mark Malek, chief investment
officer at Siebert Financial. "We might see some gains in the
next few days, but for now they're not going to be sustainable."
The timing of the tariffs news, which coincided with the
beginning of the first-quarter earnings season, is contributing
to the gloomy outlook, Malek said.
On Sunday morning talk shows, Trump's top economic advisers
sought to portray the tariffs as a savvy repositioning. Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessent said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that
there was "no reason" to anticipate a recession.
Some traders believe the stock market will at least attempt
to stage a comeback of sorts.
"Sometime this week it's probably inevitable that we will
have an up day," said Steve Sosnick, chief investment strategist
at Interactive Brokers.
The question remains about the sustainability of any rally.
"We may see a day this week where screens are green, but any
lasting rally may not arrive for three or four weeks," said Alex
Morris, chief investment officer at F/m Investments. "At that
point, people will start saying we've taken enough air out of
the balloon."