The S&P 500 closed below 5,000 points for the first time in nearly a year on Tuesday, marking a significant downturn as investor hopes for U.S. tariff concessions faded ahead of a midnight deadline. The index, which had rallied strongly in the morning, reversed course as the day progressed, reflecting growing concerns over the impact of impending 104% tariffs on China. The decline in the S&P 500 was part of a broader market sell-off, with the index losing $5.83 trillion in market value over four days, the steepest such drop since its inception in the 1950s. This followed President Donald Trump's announcement of hefty global tariffs against U.S. trading partners, which led to a more than 12% decline in the index since the announcement. Nearly 70 countries reached out to negotiate the impact of these tariffs. The market's initial optimism that Trump might soften his stance or delay the tariffs was dashed when White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the tariffs would go into effect as planned. This news, coupled with the lack of expected exemptions and the looming deadline, contributed to the market's sharp decline. The downturn was not limited to the S&P 500; the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite also saw significant losses. The CBOE Volatility Index, known as Wall Street's 'fear gauge,' rose for the fourth consecutive day, reaching its highest level since March 2020, indicating heightened market uncertainty. Meanwhile, health insurers like UnitedHealth Group and Humana saw gains, with 23.45 billion shares traded on U.S. exchanges, well above the recent average.