Between tariffs, sticky inflation and uncertainty around the future of U.S. monetary and fiscal policy, people are getting more and more worried about what’s next for the stock market. An online survey conducted by Allianz Life Insurance found that 51% of respondents “worry that another big market crash is on the horizon.” That’s up from 46% at the end of the fourth quarter. The company surveyed 1,004 people ages 18 and over. The survey also found that only 26% of respondents are comfortable with current market conditions, down from 31% at the end of 2024. Indeed, the market action in 2025 has been a departure from what investors experienced the past two years. The S & P 500 is down nearly 3% year to date and briefly dipped into correction earlier this month, trading 10% below a record set in February. In contrast, the benchmark rallied more than 23% in 2024 and 24% in 2023. The latest downdraft comes as President Donald Trump moves forward with a slew of tariffs on imported goods. Late Wednesday he announced a 25% levy on “all cars that are not made in the United States,” set to take effect next week. He has also unveiled duties targeting products from key trade partners such as China, Canada and Mexico. There are other indications of souring sentiment on the market and the economy. The Conference Board’s confidence report for March showed consumers turned negative on the stock market for the first time since the end of 2023. Specifically, a little more than just 37% of respondents see stock prices rising over the next year. On top of that, a Deutsche Bank survey showed that roughly 43% of respondents expect a recession n the next 12 months. And the choppy market moves are unlikely to abate. Stocks sold off again on Wednesday ahead of the latest tariff unveiling. “While part of this de-risking could be driven by a slew of negative news in AI/Tech, including NVDA’s China environmental curbs, sell-side report on MSFT lease cancellation, BABA’s comments on AI bubbles, the broad anxiety around tariffs also drove more appetite on de-risking ahead of April 2,” wrote traders at JPMorgan. “Does this mean the end of a tradable bounce? Not necessar[ily], particularly given the higher tolerance [for] tariff surprise among investors, but the room for further rally could be limited as we will see more sectoral/country-specific announcements in the coming days,” they added. Elsewhere Thursday morning on Wall Street, HSBC cut its price target on Tesla , seeing more than 50% downside risk for the electric car maker. “Tesla eschews many of the industry norms (holding list prices firm, making regular facelifts and model renewals) and has to date seen only minimal impact, but tougher competition and brand erosion is likely to see the impact of its strategy hurt more,” analyst Michael Tyndall wrote.
