Global markets have fallen after US President Donald Trump formally withdrew the US from the 12-country trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Mr Trump's tough stance on trade saw global stock markets fall and increased demand for safe haven assets like gold and bonds in the absence of major economic data releases.
The Dow Jones came off its lows to in late trade and the S&P 500 fell to a three-week low.
Lisa Kopp, head of traditional investments at US Bank Wealth Management, said stock markets were coming back down to earth after the Trump rally.
"There was that huge rally post-election and things really were running on optimism," she said.
"What you're seeing now is people coming back to the idea that the policies aren't exactly clear … and [Trump's] ability to actually push everything through exactly the way he wants is uncertain, " she said.
In meetings with US business leaders, Mr Trump repeated pledges to cut regulations by 75 per cent and to cut taxes for companies and the middle class by 15 per cent to 25 per cent.
He again said he would impose a "substantial border tax" on imports entering the country in order to encourage companies to make products in the US.
Mr Trump also plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with partners Canada and Mexico.
Telsa boss Elon Musk, Marillyn Hewson of Lockheed Martin, and Ford president and chief executive Mark Fields were among business leaders who attended the meeting.
Mr Fields said the meeting was very positive.
On Wall Street, Qualcomm fell 12 per cent after Apple said it will sue the chipmaker for $US1 billion.
Stocks were also in the red in Europe, dropping to the lowest level so far in 2017 as the Trump rally fizzled out.
But futures trade in Australia has defied the trend on overseas markets with the ASX SPI 200 up 0.3 per cent.
Westpac economists noted that markets continued the heavy tone set in Japan and Australia yesterday.
"Ending of current NAFTA and trade comments, including "very major" border taxes for corporates may not be surprises but triggered further risk position unwinding," they said.
"It was notable that Trump's reference to overall large tax cuts had little market impact."
The US dollar also felt the brunt of the worries about Donald Trump's administration.
It fell to the lowest level in seven weeks against a basket of currencies on concerns about Mr Trump's tough stance on trade.
The slide pushed the Australian dollar to nearly 76 US cents but it could not sustain the rise.
The lower greenback and worries about Mr Trump's economic policies bolstered gold to a two-month high as investors looked for a safe haven.
Oil prices fell back after an increase in drilling rigs in the US which could hinder the impact of production cuts by major producers.
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