Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 13, 2025.
NYSE
Stock futures fell early Monday as the struggles that plagued Wall Street last week continued.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 184 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.4% each.
Wall Street is coming off another brutal week for equities. The Nasdaq Composite sank deeper into correction territory last week, while the small-cap Russell 2000 neared a bear market, or 20% off from its high. The S&P 500 briefly dipped into a correction as well, before snapping back above that level. The Dow had its biggest one-week drop since 2023, losing 4.4%.
Those moves come as investors struggle to keep pace with President Donald Trump’s fast-changing tariff policies, on top of growing signs of economic weakness, that have put markets in a tailspin. The uncertainty has many wondering whether the stock market correction could turn into a bear market.
“If you look at the companies that were talking at big conferences in March, a lot of things are slowing. And so, I think this is more than a growth scare already. This is actually like a growth slowdown. And so the question is, will we get negative guidance in April?” Adam Parker, CEO of Trivariate Research, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Friday.
“Until then, I think we have to play a little bit more defense than offense,” Parker added. “Because I don’t think the fundamentals are likely to ‘V-shape’ recover like they have in previous cycles.”
But while markets struggle, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he’s not worried about the recent pullback.
“I’ve been in the investment business for 35 years, and I can tell you that corrections are healthy. They’re normal,” he said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “What’s not healthy is straight up, that you get these euphoric markets. That’s how you get a financial crisis. It would have been much healthier if someone had put the brakes on in ’06, ’07. We wouldn’t have had the problems in ’08.”
To be sure, he added there are “no guarantees” a recession would be avoided, noting that the Trump administration is aiming to stave off a financial crisis.
Wall Street is headed for a big markets week. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at the conclusion of its latest policy meeting Wednesday. However, Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting comments will be monitored closely for any changes in tone, after Powell repeated earlier this year the central bank is in “no hurry” to lower interest rates.
Investors will be parsing through the upcoming economic data for any signs of an economic slowdown. The U.S. retail sales report set to release Monday will give insight into the state of the consumer. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect retail sales to have increased 0.6% in February.
