Wall Street benchmarks slumped on Thursday, ending with the largest single-day percentage losses in years, as U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs ignited fears of an all-out trade war and a global economic recession.

Wall Street stocks sustained heavy losses, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite plunging by 4.8 per cent and 6 per cent respectively, hours after Trump announced the highest US tariffs for over a century. It was the worst day since the 2020 coronavirus crisis for both benchmarks.