The S&P 500 plummeted nearly 5 percent in Monday's initial trading. However, media reports that President Donald Trump was considering pausing announced trade tariffs caused the stock market to regain its composure. Suddenly, after an hour of trading, the S&P 500 was up 3 percent.
Later, however, the White House denied reports of a tariff pause. The prices fell back, but when Wall Street closed, the three leading indexes had developed in different directions.
The Dow Jones industrial index fell 0.9 percent, while the Nasdaq's technology-heavy composite index rose 0.1 percent.
Among individual stocks, electric car manufacturer Tesla, led by Elon Musk, who is closely tied to Trump, stood out. The stock noted both declines and increases and closed at minus 2.6 percent.
The winner, on the other hand, was US Steel, whose stock soared 16.2 percent. Trump requested on Monday that the proposed purchase of the American steel giant by Japanese competitor Nippon Steel be reviewed again.
