Stock indexes have been posting records recently -- but not the kind of records investors like. The S&P 500 on Friday delivered its worst performance since the start of the pandemic back in 2020. And both the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) and the Nasdaq (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) on March 31 completed their worst quarter since 2022.

US indexes were back in sell-off mode, and China's latest retaliatory tariff further escalates the trade war.

Published first at US stock markets plunged today after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on nearly all of its trading partners. The Dow Jones Index gave up 1600 points, the S&P 500 dropped five percent and the Nasdaq 100 fell 6 percent.