Market Reactions to Trump’s Tariff Announcement
The recent announcement by President Donald Trump regarding global tariffs triggered a notable downturn in the U.S. stock market, sending the Nasdaq Composite Index into one of its most significant slumps since the early 2000s. On Thursday, the tech-heavy index experienced a staggering decline of 5.5%, positioning it just outside the top 20 worst single-day losses recorded since the year 2000, as reported by Investing.com. Historically, many of these substantial drawdowns occurred during the dot-com bubble burst between 2000 and 2001, as well as during the global financial crisis of 2008.
Other major equity indexes also felt the impact, with the S&P 500 index dropping nearly 5%. In a surprising turn of events, however, the cryptocurrency market displayed resilience against this bearish sentiment. Bitcoin (BTC), which typically shows a correlation with U.S. equities over shorter periods, diverged from the downward trend. Following an initial drop right after Trump’s announcement while stock markets were closed, the largest cryptocurrency managed to gain 0.7% the next day, with positive momentum spilling into Friday, according to data from Glassnode. Currently, Bitcoin is trading above $84,000, having dipped from approximately $87,000 when Trump began his remarks.
As the Nasdaq futures continue to trend lower ahead of the U.S. jobs report expected later today, it’s worth noting that Bitcoin reached its 2025 low in mid-March, trading at around $76,000, while the Nasdaq index hit its low just yesterday. Year-to-date statistics show that Bitcoin has been outperforming the Nasdaq, with a loss of only 10% compared to the index’s decline of 11%.
Analyst Caleb Franzen pointed out Bitcoin’s relative strength in comparison to the S&P 500 amid this risk-off environment, emphasizing its stability around the critical 200-day moving average. He stated, “It’s quite remarkable to see that Bitcoin is up +3.4% today relative to the S&P 500, particularly in a risk-off environment. As I’ve noted previously, BTC/SPY continues to hold above its 200-day moving average cloud.” This resilience suggests that Bitcoin may be carving out a unique position in the market landscape, even amidst broader economic volatility.
