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By David French
(Reuters) -The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq declined on Monday, with technology stocks among the largest fallers, as investors took a cautious approach to U.S. equity markets ahead of the Trump administration's upcoming tariff plans being announced.
Global stocks tumbled, gold prices scaled new highs and U.S. government bonds climbed after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that expected tariffs he is set to announce on Wednesday will include all nations.
He has already imposed tariffs on aluminum, steel and autos, along with increased tariffs on goods from China.
"I think (April 2) might mark peak policy uncertainty, but I don't think it's going to mean that tariff uncertainty is going away," said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial.
U.S. stock markets have sold off this year as the Trump administration's tariff policies raised fears of a global trade war that would hurt economic growth and spur inflation.
The three major U.S. indexes are on track for sharp monthly and quarterly losses, with the S&P 500 and the tech-centric Nasdaq poised for their steepest quarterly drops in three years.
While these falls have been significant, LPL's Turnquist said the S&P 500 was finding resistance around its March 13 closing low, which alongside broader economic data remaining steady, provided encouragement we may be approaching the bottom.
"For the intermediate and longer term investors, there are some more signs which we are looking for, but certainly holding those March lows is a big piece of evidence that, maybe, the worst is behind us," he added.
By 1:53 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had ticked up 95.67 points, or 0.23%, to 41,679.57, helped by gains by Walmart and Home Depot.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was lower by 21.04 points, or 0.38%, to 5,559.90 points, and the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 203.78 points, or 1.18%, to 17,119.21.
Tech stocks were the worst hit, with Nvidia falling 3.4% and Microsoft down 2.1%, as investors worried about companies' spending plans for artificial intelligence.
Tesla fell 3.6% after investment bank Stifel lowered the electric-vehicle maker's delivery forecast ahead of Wednesday's first-quarter report.
The S&P 500 consumer staples sector, often considered a safe haven within stock markets, rose 1.1%, while the energy index advanced 0.7%, tracking a jump in crude prices.
The domestically focused Russell 2000 Index was down 1.2%.
The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's so-called fear gauge, jumped to a two-week high of 22.66 points.