LIVE MARKETS-S&P 500 sinks amid mounting recession fears

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S&P 500 SINKS AMID MOUNTING RECESSION FEARS

Wall Street's major indexes are plunging early on Thursday, as President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on major trade partners ignited fears of an all-out trade war and heightened the risk of a global economic recession.

With this, the S&P 500 index .SPX, which is now around 5,450, is down nearly 4%, and on track for its biggest daily drop since September 2022.

The benchmark index is now down more than 11% from its record close. The Nasdaq composite .IXIC is down about 17% from its record close.

The economically sensitive Dow Transports .DJT is down more than 21% from its record close.

Today's SPX low is at 5,436.66. The next support is at the September 2024 lows in the 5,406.96-5,402.62 area followed by additional Fibonacci retracements in the 5,366.76-5,339.39 area.

A reversal back above the upper weekly Cloud boundary and the March 13 trough at 5,504.65 may suggest the worst has passed for now.

Nearly all S&P 500 sectors are red with tech .SPLRCT, energy .SPNY, and consumer discretionary .SPLRCD all falling more than 5% each.

Staples .SPLRCS, up about 1%, is the sole sector in positive territory.

Under the surface, bank indexes .SPXBK, .KRX, with losses of more than 7%, are being hit especially hard.

Gold stocks .HUI are gaining.

Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield US10YT=RR, which is now around 4.02%, is testing its own key support which is now around 4.01%.

Here is a snapshot of where markets stood at 10:24 a.m. ET:

(Terence Gabriel)

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FOR THURSDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:

GEARING DOWN CRUISE MODE: SCOTIABANK DOWNGRADES US EQUITIES AFTER LATEST TARIFFS - CLICK HERE

S&P 500 FUTURES TRADE SHARPLY LOWER ON TARIFF TUMULT - CLICK HERE

DON'T BANK ON FED CUTS AFTER TARIFFS - COLUMBIA THREADNEEDLE CIO - CLICK HERE

TENTATIVE OPTIMISTS MULL BEST OUTCOME AFTER TRUMP TARIFFS - CLICK HERE

TARIFF RISKS, IS PHARMA OUT OF THE WOODS? - CLICK HERE

DEFENSIVE BUYING LIMITS THE DAMAGE - CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: HEAVY SELLOFF COMING - CLICK HERE

SEEMS INVESTORS REALLY DON'T LIKE TARIFFS - CLICK HERE

(Terence Gabriel is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)