Stocks fell sharply on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq suffering their biggest one-day percentage declines since April 10, while Treasury yields dropped and the U.S. dollar weakened as comments by U.S. President Donald Trump reignited worries over a U.S.-China trade war.
After markets closed on Friday, Trump said he was raising tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. to 100 per cent and imposing export controls on “any and all critical software” in a reprisal against recently announced export limits by China on rare earth minerals critical to tech and other manufacturing.
The announcement followed an earlier Trump social media post on Friday that signalled new levies against Chinese goods were in the offing, while threatening to cancel a meeting with President Xi Jinping.
The news sent markets into turmoil, stirring concerns over how the trade war will affect the U.S. economy. Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariff announcement set off some of the most severe market volatility in years.
Technology-related shares led the day’s tumble on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 technology index falling four per cent on the day and an index of semiconductors declining 6.3 per cent. U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms also dropped. E-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding finished 8.4 per cent lower and JD.com Inc. declined 6.2 per cent. Shares added to losses after the bell.
Oil prices fell more than $2 US a barrel as trade worries cast a shadow over the demand outlook, while spot gold rallied back above the $4,000 US an ounce milestone.
“He’s caught the market off guard again and thrown more question marks into a market that is being questioned about a very high degree of enthusiasm and being sort of scrutinized for having too much fluff built into it,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Fairfield, Conn.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 878.82 points, or 1.90 per cent, at 45,479.60, the S&P 500 was down 182.60 points, or 2.71 per cent, at 6,552.51, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 820.20 points, or 3.56 per cent, at 22,204.43.
U.S. stock indexes had hit record highs earlier this week, lifted in part by expectations of further interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and optimism about artificial intelligence-related deals.
The three major U.S. stock indexes posted losses for the week, with the S&P 500 registering its biggest weekly percentage decline since May.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe fell 20.96 points, or 2.11 per cent, to 972.51.
European shares ended 1.25 per cent lower, erasing weekly gains in a last-minute slide tied to the comments from Trump.
U.S. Treasury yields fell to multi-week lows as investors moved to safe havens following Trump’s early comments.
Movement in U.S. sovereign debt yields had been in a holding pattern in recent days as a U.S. federal government shutdown, which began Oct. 1, has halted the production of key economic indicators.
In afternoon trading, the yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note fell to a more than one-month low and was last down 9.1 basis points, at 4.057 per cent.
The U.S. dollar dropped after Trump’s remarks, which lifted the euro and the yen against the greenback, while currencies linked to commodities and raw materials, including the Australian dollar, fell.
The dollar index was last down 0.4 per cent at 98.99. It is still set for a weekly gain of 1.66 per cent, the largest since September 2024, after the Japanese yen and euro this week were hurt by fiscal concerns in their regions.
The yen was last up 0.86 per cent against the greenback at 151.73 per dollar on the day, while the euro was up 0.38 per cent on the day at $1.1607 US.
The Japanese currency has dropped on concerns that the Bank of Japan may not hike interest rates again this year after fiscal dove Sanae Takaichi’s surprise victory to lead the ruling party.
Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Friday that the government was concerned about excessive volatility in the foreign exchange market.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron late on Friday named Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister, reappointing him to a job he had quit earlier this week. Markets were rocked on Monday after Lecornu tendered his resignation. French blue chip stocks dropped two per cent this week.
U.S. crude fell $2.61 to settle at $58.90 US and Brent fell $2.49 to settle at $62.73 US. Spot gold rose 0.85 per cent to $4,008.74 US an ounce.