U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war and attacks on Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, led to a sharp drop in the three major stock indices of the New York Stock Exchange on the 21st (local time).
On the same day, after the market closed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 971.82 points (2.48%) to close at 38,170.41. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index dropped 124.50 points (2.36%) to 5,158.20, while the Nasdaq Composite finished down by 415.55 points (2.55%) at 15,870.90.
The 'Magnificent Seven,' referring to seven major technology companies, also experienced a sharp decline. On that day, Tesla fell 6%, and Nvidia dropped 4.5%. Amazon and Meta each went down by 3%.
The market that day was affected by President Trump's threats to the Federal Reserve's independence. Trump noted on his social media platform Truth Social regarding Chair Powell, "'Mr. Too Late,' a major loser, will bring about an economic slowdown if interest rates are not lowered," adding, "Many are calling for preemptive rate cuts."
With pressure from President Trump on Powell, there was an intensified movement to dump U.S. assets across the market. This was because the uncertainty regarding tariffs combined with undermined trust in the Federal Reserve was destabilizing monetary policy. On that day, the value of the dollar hit its lowest level in three years. The dollar index recorded about 98, down 1.1% from the previous trading day, marking its lowest point since March 2022.