Nasdaq On Track for Bear Market as Trump Tariff Stock Sell-Off Continues

The Nasdaq Composite was on track to fall into a bear market on Friday as the tariff-induced global stock sell-off deepened. 

The Nasdaq was recently down nearly 4% Friday morning, putting the index more than 20% off its December all-time high. The tech-heavy index was sliding alongside the other major large-cap indexes, with the S&P 500 off about 4% and the Dow down about 3.5%. 

The Nasdaq will have to close below 16,139.11 for a bear market to be confirmed. The index was recently trading at 15876 after rebounding from its session low below of 15600.

The Nasdaq on Thursday had its worst day since March 2020 after President Donald Trump outlined a raft of steep tariffs that economists warn risk pushing the U.S. economy into a recession while stoking inflation. 

The sell-off continued Friday after China hit back with its own tariff on all US goods, matching the rate on Chinese goods announced by Trump. The move raised concerns that Trump’s reciprocal tariffs could be the beginning of a global trade war that results in even higher tariffs than those already announced.

The majority of the more than 3,000 stocks in the Nasdaq were trading in the red on Friday, but mega-cap tech stocks were weighing most heavily on the index. Shares of Apple (AAPL) were down more than 4% after tumbling nearly 10% yesterday, their worst day since March 2020.

AI chipmakers Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO) were both down more than 7%, while EV maker Tesla (TSLA) tumbled nearly 10%,