Stocks plunge again as volatility reigns despite Trump tariff pause

By the numbers: Red ink was everywhere as of about 3 p.m., even though stocks had rebounded well off session lows:

• The Dow was down 825 points, or 2%, to 39,787.
• The S&P 500 index was off 2.8% to 5,306 after Wednesday posting the third largest single-day percentage increase since 1939.
• The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 3.6% to 16,513.
• The small-cap Russell 2000 plummeted 4% to 1,837.

The intrigue: Just about the only index on the rise was the Vix — the volatility index — which rises when volatility is increasing.

• It was up 23% Thursday afternoon.

The big picture: Investors' immediate hopes following Trump's reciprocal tariff pause Wednesday have proved short-lived, giving way to fears of a fracturing global economy from the tariffs that remain in place.

• "While the acute near-term risk of a recessionary feedback loop has been averted, the chronic problem of policy volatility and related uncertainties persists," according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
• Investors are spooked that the Trump administration has "arguably shown a greater tolerance for causing a recession than many might have thought," writes Thomas Mathews, head of markets, Asia Pacific, at Capital Economics.

The bottom line: The tariffs pause did not extinguish the market's volatility.