The New York Stock Exchange, the world’s largest by market capitalization. Photo: Carol M. Highsmith.
Guacamaya, April 7, 2025. The world’s major financial markets opened lower on Monday following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of tariffs on all countries. Oil prices also collapsed after the news.
On April 2, after imposing tariffs on several markets, Trump unveiled a list of “reciprocal tariffs.” These were calculated based on trade deficits and carry a minimum rate of 10%.
Most analysts and investors have interpreted these measures as a precursor to a global recession, leading to declines in major stock indices and energy prices. The latter is a key indicator of expectations for global economic activity.
So far this year, the U.S. stock market has seen significant drops: the S&P 500 is down 14%, and the Nasdaq 100 has fallen 19%. Oil prices dropped below $60 per barrel for the first time since 2021, when they were impacted by the pandemic.
Even the price of gold, which had risen 15% in 2025, has been declining since the U.S. president’s tariff announcement.
Here are the changes in some of the world’s major stock indices since the beginning of the year, as of Monday morning, April 7:
- Dow Jones (USA): -13%
- S&P 500 (USA): -17%
- Nasdaq 100 (USA): -20%
- FTSE 100 (UK): -7%
- CAC 40 (France): -6%
- DAX 40 (Germany): -1%
- IBEX 35 (Spain): +1%
- Nifty 50 (India): -7%
- Nikkei 225 (Japan): -21%
- Straits Times (Singapore): -7%
- Taiwan Weighted (Taiwan): -16%
- KOSPI (Korea): -3%
- SET Composite (Thailand): -18%
- Jakarta Composite (Indonesia): -8%
- Shanghai Composite (China): -5%
- Hang Seng (Hong Kong): +1%
