Stock Market Today: Stocks end lower as investors eye Fed chief's tenure

Updated 4:23 p.m. EDT by Rob Lenihan

Stocks ended lower Monday after the long Easter weekend as investors worried about tariffs, the economy and whether President Trump was going to try to sack Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 971 points, or 2.48%, to end the session at 38,170.41, while the S&P 500 gave up 2.36% to close 5,158.20 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 2.55%.to finish the day at 15,870.90.

"Tariff uncertainty has severely obscured visibility into corporate earnings and economic activity, as companies grapple with unpredictable cost structures, demand forecasting, and potential supply chain disruptions," said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist and Jeffrey Buchbinder, chief equity strategist, at LPL Financial.

"The lack of clarity, combined with the likelihood of a materially higher effective U.S. tariff rate compared to 2024, could significantly impact earnings estimates," they said in their weekly commentary.

The analysts said that navigating this environment remains challenging due to the binary "deal or no deal" backdrop of trade negotiations, where the absence of clear trade resolutions complicates the macro backdrop. 

"To reflect this backdrop, we have lowered our year-end 2025 fair value S&P 500 target range to 5,650-5,800," they said.

Updated 3:30 p.m. EDT

But the indexes were off their lows on the day.

At 3:35 p.m. ET, the Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 3% at 5,122. The Nasdaq Composite Index had dropped 3.2% to 15,758, and the Dow Industrial Average was off more than 1,163 points, or 3.1%, to 37,979. If the Dow ends with a 1,000-point loss, it would be the fourth for the index in April. 

About the only good news one can offer on the market now is that the index at least bounced up from a bottom. Whether that can be a foundation for a rebound is unknown. 

Tariffs are the big issue, and Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRE, warns they're likely to remain top of mind "over the coming few months."

The selling was affecting bond yields, too, especially longer-term yields. The 10-year Treasury note was yielding 4.42% on Monday, up from Thursday's 4.33%. Bond investors have not used U.S. Treasuries as safe haves. The yield was as low as 4% on April 4. 

Mortgage rates have moved slightly higher, nearly to 7%, according to Mortgage New Daily.

Nike NKE was the only Dow component in the green this afternoon, up slightly at $55.835. 

UnitedHealth Group UNH, which fell 22% on Thursday, was down nearly 6% to $427.16. Nvidia  (NVDA)  was 5% to $95.48 and was under $100 for the first time since May 2024.  

Stock Market Today 

U.S. stocks had signaled a lower open because of the tariff question, Powell's tenure and rising interest rates.

At 8:30 a.m. ET, an hour before trading opens on U.S. exchanges, futures trading in the major averages were all lower.