Wall Street stocks were mixed late Monday morning amid talk that the market could be bottoming out after huge losses prompted by US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs announcements.
After opening sharply lower, stocks briefly spiked into positive territory following an erroneous report that the White House was considering a 90-day tariff pause.
Near 1505 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.9 percent at 37,977.96.
The broad-based S&P 500 was flat at 5,072.51, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.6 percent to 15,674.45.
Equity markets have been in free fall since Trump's announcement Wednesday unveiling sweeping tariffs on trading partners that were far more impactful than markets expected.
But major indices surged into positive territory following a report that White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Trump was considering a 90-day tariff pause.
White House officials quickly denied the story, posting Hassett's interview on Fox News that had been misquoted.
"We're very oversold in a very short period of time," said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.
"Even though Kevin Hassett was misquoted, market participants could see what would happen if there is a modicum of good news," Hogan said.
Economists see the tariffs as boosting the risk of recession in light of a possible resurgence in inflation and a slowdown in capital investment from businesses unsettled by shifting US policies.
"Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth," JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon said in a letter to investors, concluding that "the recent tariffs will likely increase inflation."
This week's calendar includes updates on US consumer prices, as well as earnings from JPMorgan and other large US banks.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
