Stocks are tumbling for a second straight day, extending a steep slide triggered by President Trump’s announcement of sweeping new tariffs on U.S. imports earlier this week.
The S&P 500 fell 237 points, or 4.4%, to 5,159 as of 10:56 a.m. EST. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1,475 points, or 3.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 4.6%.
The indexes’ free-fall Thursday was their biggest one-day drop since 2020, with more than $2 trillion in investor wealth erased from the S&P 500. The Dow and S&P 500 each sank more than 4% yesterday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged nearly 6%.
Drops of this magnitude aren’t unheard of on Wall Street, but they’re rare. Over the last 25 years, the S&P 500 has fallen 4% in a single day 38 times, according to Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for brokerage firm LPL Financial.
Overseas markets also slid Friday. In overnight trading in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 dropped 2.8%, while South Korea’s Kospi sank 0.9%. In European trading, Germany’s DAX lost 2%, France’s CAC 40 in Paris dipped 1.6% and Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 1.7%.
U.S. growth downgraded
Economists have downgraded their outlook for U.S. economic growth this year as Mr. Trump has piled tariffs on a growing list of countries, warning that the levies are likely to boost inflation. That, in turn, could reduce consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity.
Import taxes are largely borne by businesses, which typically pass along part or much of those added costs to consumers. As a result, Americans could face higher prices for electronics, household appliances, cars, clothing, furniture and food such as coffee and chocolate, according to economists.
“Looking ahead, higher tariffs will be working their way through our economy and are likely to raise inflation in coming quarters,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in a speech Friday in Arlington, Va.
According to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan policy research firm, the Trump administration’s tariffs could cost U.S. households more than $1,900 this year.
David Lefkowitz, head of U.S. equities at UBS Global Wealth Management, thinks U.S. trade officials will eventually lower tariff rates as they negotiate with their counterparts abroad. But that process will take time, and the investment bank doesn’t expect a speedy reversal in tariffs. As a result, economists at the bank have lowered their forecast for U.S. economic growth this year to less than 1%.
China strikes back
Investors are also nervously watching as the barrage of U.S. tariffs prompts retaliation from key trading partners. China on Friday said it will impose a 34% tariff on imports of all U.S. products starting April 10.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry also said it would implement tighter restrictions on exports of rare earths — materials used in products such as computer chips and electric vehicle batteries — as well impose trade sanctions on 27 additional U.S. companies.
“This is an aggressive, escalatory response that makes a near-term deal to end the trade war between the two superpowers highly unlikely,” analysts with Capital Economics said in a research note.
In better news for financial markets, U.S. employers added 228,000 jobs in March, far exceeding analyst forecasts. The nation’s unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2%, versus 4.1% in February.
Although job growth was robust last month, the government’s latest hiring numbers don’t reflect the impact of the Trump administration’s trade policies on the economy.
“For investors looking at their portfolios, it could have felt like an operation performed without anesthesia,” Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, said of this week’s downdraft in stocks.
contributed to this report.
