Despite Friday’s gains, Wall Street endured a rough week, with the Dow marking its steepest weekly drop since 2023.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to trade with decent gains and edged higher on Monday, attempting to recover from correction territory after a four-week slide driven by shifting trade policies and weakening consumer sentiment.
The benchmark index rose 0.3 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.3 percent after Tesla and Nividia slipped 5.5 and 2.23 percent, respectively. Mizuho Securities cut Tesla’s price target to $430 from $515, citing weak sales and increased competition. Tesla’s sales fell in key markets, with China plunging 49 percent year-over-year. The firm lowered delivery estimates for 2025 and 2026, highlighting geopolitical tensions and declining brand perception as key challenges.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 282 points, or 0.7 percent supported by gains in major names such as Walmart and IBM.
Investor sentiment was steadied by February’s retail sales data, which showed a modest 0.2 percent monthly increase—below expectations of 0.6 percent. However, excluding auto sales, retail spending matched forecasts with a 0.3 percent rise.
The S&P 500 slipped into a correction last Thursday, falling over 10 percent from its late-February peak, before staging a 2 percent rebound on Friday as investors snapped up battered tech stocks.
“We’re in a near-term counter-trend rally,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. He suggested the S&P 500 might find support near the 5,400 level, implying a further 4 percent downside before stabilizing.
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Despite Friday’s gains, Wall Street endured a rough week, with the Dow marking its steepest weekly drop since 2023. The Nasdaq Composite remains deep in correction territory, down 12 percent from its record high.
Uncertainty around rapidly evolving U.S. trade policies, coupled with corporate cost-cutting measures, has fueled market volatility. Officials have signalled that short-term economic pain may be necessary for broader structural reforms.
“Corrections are normal and even healthy,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a weekend interview, cautioning against unchecked market exuberance. He warned that transitioning from government-driven growth to private sector-led expansion could bring further economic turbulence, adding that a recession is not entirely off the table.
Meanwhile, in Europe, stocks kicked off the week on a strong note, closing higher as investors assessed ongoing trade uncertainty and market volatility. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index gained 0.79 percent, with most sectors finishing in positive territory, except for chemicals, which lagged.
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