In New York, investors are growing anxious as the U.S. stock market experiences a significant decline. Concerns are mounting over a possible prolonged global trade war and a less optimistic corporate profit forecast. Stocks saw major fluctuations on Monday, with the S&P 500 plunging by over 4% at one point. Investors are grappling with President Donald Trump's extensive tariffs, which led to the largest weekly stock market drop since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago.

The uncertainty surrounding the tariff dispute has left Wall Street analysts contemplating how much further stocks could fall. Some suggest that the S&P 500 might decrease by almost half from its peak on February 19. Matthew Maley, the chief market strategist at Miller Tabak, believes a decline to 4,300 in the next few months is highly possible, with a further drop to 4,000 or lower not being ruled out. Maley points out that apart from trade tensions, the market's previous optimism regarding short-term profit gains from artificial intelligence and consumer spending trends may not have been realistic.

Some analysts are projecting extreme scenarios where the S&P 500 could plummet by around 50% from its peak, comparable to the aftermath of the dot-com bubble burst in 2000. The recent market decline is one of the most rapid sell-offs in U.S. stock history, paralleling the speed of drops seen during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and the financial downturn in 2008. With the S&P 500 edging closer to bear market territory, the index experienced its fourth largest two-day drop since 1950 on Thursday and Friday.

Although the S&P 500 only ended Monday down by 0.2%, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), known as Wall Street's "fear gauge," recorded its highest closing level in five years. JPMorgan equity strategists have set a year-end S&P 500 target of approximately 4,000 as their bear case, envisaging no relief from tariffs and a projection of stagnating earnings until 2026.