Futures point to another market plunge on Friday after China's retaliation for Trump's tariffs
Stocks may extend their post-tariff sell-off Friday after China retaliated with its own 34% duties on all U.S. goods, restrictions on rare earth exports, and other measures. Futures linked to the S&P 500, Nasdaq $NDAQ 100, and Dow Jones Industrial Average are all pointing to a lower open.
The Magnificent 7 stocks extend their slide on Friday, with Nvidia $NVDA (NVDA) plunging 3.6% and Apple $AAPL (AAPL) dropping 4.8% in premarket trading as of 8:50 a.m. EDT. Declines were 5.4% for Meta $META (META), 6.2% for Amazon $AMZN (AMZN), 5.1% for Tesla $TSLA (TSLA), 1.6% for Microsoft $MSFT (MSFT), and 2.7% for Google $GOOGL parent company Alphabet (GOOGL).
Shoe and garment makers extended their sell-off as they face tariffs on their Asian-made products. Nike $NKE (NKE) fell 5% before the bell, Lululemon $LULU (LULU) slid 5%, and Uggs-maker Deckers (DECK) declined 4.4%. Energy companies, including Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron $CVX (CVX), and ConocoPhillips $COP (COP) declined on recession fears.
Equities markets had their worst day in five years Thursday as the S&P 500 plunged 4.8%, the Nasdaq Composite plummeted 6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1,679.39 points, or 4%.
Thursday afternoon, President Donald Trump showed no signs of backing down on his plans to impose tariffs that are more severe than expected.“It’s going very well,” he said, comparing the imposition of tariffs with surgery and claiming “the markets are going to boom” along with the country.
Friday, a government report showed that the U.S. labor market held up better than expected in March despite the federal government’s layoffs, the crackdown on immigrants, and surveys showing that consumers and businesses are increasingly anxious about the economy.
Employers added 228,000 jobs in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, rising from a downwardly revised 117,000 in February and beating the average estimate of 130,00. The jobless rate nonetheless increased to 4.2% from 4.1%, and hourly wages increased 0.30%, both matching projections.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on the economic outlook at 11:25 a.m. EDT. Other central bank speakers include Michael Barr — who will talk about AI and banking — and Christopher Waller.
Some stocks to watch today:
Blackstone’s (BX) stocks slid 4.4% in premarket trading. The investment company is considering selling two AirTrunk data centers in Australia for about A$2 billion ($1.3 billion) each to fund the Australian unit’s growth, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar.
Exxon stock fell 2.6% before the open. The energy giant may report a $2.7 billion gain in profit in the first quarter from the prior three months, with fuel manufacturing the largest contributing factor, Bloomberg reported, citing a company filing.
Guess (GES) stock dropped 5.6% in premarket trading after plunging 11.8% on Thursday. The garment maker reported fiscal fourth-quarter sales and per-share profit that exceeded analyst expectations. The company’s guidance for fiscal first-quarter revenue also topped consensus.
Join 500,000+ readers who start their day with Quartz.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
