Volatility ruled over financial markets during President Donald Trump's first 100 days back in office, whipsawing investors across asset classes and briefly raising alarm bells in the bond market.

It was likely little surprise to investors that the kickoff of Trump's return to office was eventful for the financial markets. However, instead of a thriving bull market stoked by tax cuts and deregulation, investors were left with heightened volatility and growing uncertainty over where markets are headed - and more important, what his policies would mean for the U.S. economy over the remainder of his four-year term.

Here's a look at how Trump's first 100 days played out across key assets in U.S. financial markets:

Stocks

The U.S. stock market on Tuesday recorded its worst first 100 days of a presidency in over half a century.

The S&P 500 SPX tumbled 7.3% since Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA slumped 6.8% in the same period. Both indexes posted their worst first-100-day performance for a new administration since President Richard Nixon's second term in 1973, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

See: Trump's first 100 days in office are worst for stock market in half a century

The Nasdaq Composite COMP, meanwhile, fell 11% since Inauguration Day, and logged its worst first 100 days of a presidency since George W. Bush's first term in 2001, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Here are a few key moments from Trump's first 100 days back in the Oval Office, and how the stock market reacted around them:

Jan. 21: The first trading day after Trump was sworn into his second term as the 47th president of the United States.

Jan. 27: S&P 500 tumbles 1.6% as China's DeepSeek sparks a stock-market selloff.

Feb. 19: S&P 500 finishes at a record 6,144.15.

Mar. 4: Trump's 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada officially takes effect, drawing immediate retaliation from some of the country's major trading partners and sending global financial markets into a tailspin.

Mar. 13: The S&P 500 enters a correction, finishing more than 10% below its Feb. 19 record close. Trump threatens to escalate a trade war with the European Union, saying he could impose 200% tariffs on European wine and Champagne.

April 2: In an event he terms "liberation day," Trump, after the market close, announces a universal 10% tariff on all imported goods, alongside hefty, so-called reciprocal levies on dozens of larger trading partners that far exceed what investors had anticipated.

April 3-8: The S&P 500 drops over 10% for its worst four-day loss since March 23, 2020, as markets react to the April 2 tariff measures.

April 9: The S&P 500 surges 9.5% for its largest one-day gain since Oct. 28, 2008, after Trump announces a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, except for China, which sees levies raised to 145%.

April 22: Trump tells reporters he has no intention of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and also indicates he expects tariffs on China to fall. Markets had been roiled by Trump's earlier remarks about Powell, calling him a "loser" for not moving to quickly lower interest rates. Stocks begin a six-day winning streak and Treasury yields pull back.

April 29: The S&P 500 rises for six consecutive trading sessions to end Trump's first 100 days, logging its largest six-day percentage gain since March 2022 with a rise of 7.8%. That leaves the S&P 500 down 1.9% since the April 2 tariff announcement and off 9.5% from its Feb. 19 record finish.

Treasurys

U.S. government bonds also saw wild swings over the first 100 days of Trump's second presidency.

Yields fell in late March as fears of a slowdown grew, with the rate on the 10-year note BX:TMUBMUSD10Y slipping below 4% after beginning Trump's term near 4.6%. Yields and debt prices move opposite each other.

But when Trump's April 2 tariff announcements shook global markets, yields began to rise, with Treasurys defying their usual role as a safe haven during periods of financial stress.

Long-dated U.S. government debt got punished in the second week of April due to tariff-driven volatility in the broader financial markets, resulting in the biggest weekly declines in 10- and 30-year Treasury yields in decades. The drop briefly raised fears of trouble in the bond market, though Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve officials said markets remained orderly.

The yield on the 30-year bond BX:TMUBMUSD30Y climbed by a total of 48.2 basis points in the week ending April 11, after briefly topping 5%, marking the largest weekly advance since 1987. Meanwhile, the 10-year yield BX:TMUBMUSD10Y spiked a total of 50 basis points in the same period, also booking its biggest weekly increase since 2001, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The 10-year yield traded back toward 4.59%.

Treasurys subsequently calmed, with the 10-year yield ending Tuesday at 4.17%.

U.S. dollar

The U.S. dollar has fallen sharply ever since Trump's inauguration in late January, pressured by his shifting tariff policies and his public criticism of the Fed. The weaker dollar has also raised questions about the greenback's status as the de facto global reserve currency.

Earlier this month, the ICE U.S. Dollar index DXY, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of major currencies such as the euro $(EURUSD.FOREX)$, Japanese yen and Swiss franc, plunged to its lowest level in over three years as tariff-driven volatility gripped U.S. financial markets. The dollar index has fallen 8.6% so far in 2025, according to FactSet data.

The aggressive weakness in the dollar and Treasurys have also spurred concerns that the status of American assets as an attractive destination for foreign investments has been tarnished. Wall Street has worried that investors, especially foreign ones, will reduce their holdings in U.S. assets and shift their capital elsewhere amid trade uncertainty and concerns about the U.S. economy.

Gold

Gold prices remained a rare bright spot during Trump's first 100 days, with prices for the yellow metal up more than 20% during the period.

Since Jan. 20, gold futures prices (GC00) (GCM25) on Comex climbed by 21%, according to Dow Jones Market Data. They briefly touched $3,509.90 last week, the highest level on record, before falling back to settle at around $3,333.60 on Tuesday afternoon, according to FactSet data.