Trump says no pause on tariffs after rollercoaster day on Wall Street ends with most US markets down

Donald Trump has ruled out pausing the sweeping tariffs he has imposed on countries across the world after a rollercoaster day on Wall Street that ended with most of the US markets down.

Intense swings were seen on the three main stock market indexes on Monday as economists fear the US president's "Liberation Day" levies could cause a global recession. The S&P 500 closed the day 0.23% lower, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.91%, and the Nasdaq ended in positive territory, up 0.10%.

Trump tariffs: Follow latest updates All three indexes started the day sharply lower, and the Dow plunged as many as 1,700 points following even worse losses elsewhere in the world. But it suddenly surged to a gain of nearly 900 points in the late morning.

The S&P 500, meanwhile, went from a loss of 4.7% to a leap of 3.4%, which would have been its biggest jump in years. The sudden rise appears to have been the result of a social media post that incorrectly claimed that Kevin Hassett, White House National Economic Council director, said Mr Trump was considering a 90-day pause in tariffs for all countries except China.

Reports first emerged through the US business news channel CNBC. The White House later told CNBC any talk of a 90-day pause was "fake news".

Financial pain hammers investments around the world The financial pain once again hammered investments around the world, with stocks in Hong Kong plunging 13.2% for their worst day since 1997. Meanwhile, the UK's benchmark stock index, the FTSE 100, closed 4.38% down.

It is one of the biggest drops in years, in line with the falls seen in the early days of COVID-19 lockdowns, but less steep than the 4.95% loss seen on Friday. Only a handful of the 100 most valuable companies listed on the London Stock Exchange saw any boost to their share price all day.

Read more: Major economic shock happening because of TrumpIs this the start of an 'economic nuclear winter?'Global bank chiefs hold talks over tariffs crisis ???? Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app ???? Trump 'not looking' at pausing tariffs When asked in the Oval Office on Monday evening whether he would pause tariffs, Mr Trump said: "We're not looking at that." The president added that affected countries have been negotiating with his administration, which he said will try and make "fair deals" with each of them. "We're going to get fair deals with every country and if we don't they are not going to be able to participate with the US," he added.

Mr Trump also claimed the US "has been ripped off by many countries over the years.