April 6 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock futures opened sharply lower late on Sunday,

suggesting a continuation of the two-day selloff that wiped

trillions from equity values after the Trump administration's

tariffs announcement last week.

Investors had been anticipating another week of

turbulence as global trading partners react to the

harsher-than-expected tariffs. U.S. S&P 500 E-minis stock

futures were last down 4%. Dow E-minis were

down 3.8%, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 4.6% at

the open on Sunday.

In the two days following Trump's Wednesday tariff

announcement, the benchmark S&P 500 index fell 10.5% and lost

about $5 trillion in market value. It was the biggest two-day

loss since March 2020. Thursday and Friday's steep slide put the

S&P 500 down more than 17% from its February 19 all-time closing

high, and brought it closer to bear market territory, which is

typically defined as a 20% decline.

"The bull market is dead," Mark Malek, chief investment

officer at Siebert Financial, said ahead of futures opening. "We

might see some gains in the next few days, but for now they're

not going to be sustainable."

The timing of the tariffs news, which coincided with the

beginning of the first-quarter earnings season, is contributing

to the gloomy outlook, Malek said.

On Sunday morning talk shows, Trump's top economic advisers

sought to portray the tariffs as a savvy repositioning. Treasury

Secretary Scott Bessent said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that

there was "no reason" to anticipate a recession.

Some traders believe the stock market will at least attempt

to stage a comeback of sorts.

"Sometime this week it's probably inevitable that we will have

an up day," said Steve Sosnick, chief investment strategist at

Interactive Brokers, ahead of futures opening.

The question remains about the sustainability of any rally.

"We may see a day this week where screens are green, but any

lasting rally may not arrive for three or four weeks," said Alex

Morris, chief investment officer at F/m Investments. "At that

point, people will start saying we've taken enough air out of

the balloon."