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Indexes down: S&P 500 2.02%, Nasdaq 1.83%, Dow 2.52%

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S&P 500 nears bear market territory

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Trump threatens additional tariffs on China

(Updates with afternoon prices)

By Pranav Kashyap and Purvi Agarwal

April 7 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes resumed their

slide in afternoon trading on Monday as investors retreated for

the third day after President Donald Trump dug in on tariffs and

warned he could further increase the levies on China.

U.S. stocks have been hammered by the Trump administration's

plans to impose sweeping tariffs on all imports into the United

States as well as more levies on some major trading partners,

fueling concerns about an economic slowdown and rising

inflationary pressures.

All three major U.S. indexes were at more than one-year lows

on Monday. The CBOE Volatility index, seen as Wall

Street's fear gauge, rose to 48.49 points, its highest since

August 2024.

"The market sleepwalked into this because they felt that

Trump would care about the stock market ... they felt this was

only a bargaining tool. The market is now having to rethink,"

said Bhanu Baweja, chief strategist with UBS.

"There could be a material, serious hit to EPS growth."

Technology stocks remained at the forefront of the selloff.

Apple ( AAPL ) fell 5.4%, while Microsoft ( MSFT ) dropped 1.7%

and Tesla was down 5.2%, weighing on the main indexes.

The slide came after markets were whiplashed earlier in the

trading session. At one point stocks, which had opened in the

red, suddenly reversed course and rallied after a report said

Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs.

But White House officials quickly denied the report, sending

the market back in the red.

CNBC, which in an on-screen chyron had cited White House

economic adviser Kevin Hassett for the pause, subsequently

reported the White House denials.

"As we were chasing the news of the market moves in real

time, we aired unconfirmed information in a banner. Our

reporters quickly made a correction on air," a CNBC spokesperson

said.

Reuters also published the report about Hassett's comment

with attribution to CNBC. In one version, Reuters failed to

credit the broadcaster and later withdrew that report.

At 12:58 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell

971.07 points, or 2.52%, to 37,343.79, the S&P 500 lost

102.46 points, or 2.02%, to 4,971.62, and the Nasdaq Composite

lost 284.62 points, or 1.83%, to 15,303.17.

The S&P 500 fell 20% from its February record closing high.

If the index ends down 20% from its all-time closing high, it

would confirm the index has been in a bear market since

February.

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.

The blue-chip Dow is down nearly 17% from its December

all-time high, while the Nasdaq last week confirmed it had been

in a bear market.

Several speeches by Federal Reserve officials and a series

of economic indicators, including consumer price data, are

expected this week, with markets keenly observing any signals of

recessionary fears.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for an 8.37-to-1

ratio on the NYSE and a 4.42-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week high and 167 new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded eight new highs and 973 new

lows.