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US stocks cratered on Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) plunging more than 2,200 points after China stoked trade-war fears and Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned of higher inflation and slower growth stemming from tariffs.
The Dow pulled back 5.5% to enter into correction territory. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank nearly 6%, as the broad-based benchmark capped its worst week since 2020. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 5.8% to close in bear market territory.
The major averages added to Thursday’s $2.5 trillion wipeout after China said it will impose additional tariffs of 34% on all US products from April 10 — matching the extra 34% duties imposed by Trump on Wednesday.
Nasdaq GIDS – Delayed Quote USD
At close: April 4 at 5:15:59 PM EDT
^IXIC ^DJI ^GSPC
That ramped up investor worries that countries are more likely to retaliate than negotiate, leading to a protracted global trade war.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
Investors flocked to government bonds as the 10-year Treasury (^TNX) yield fell to 3.9%, nearing its lowest levels since October.
Economists are warning that with tariffs as-is, the risk of a US recession is rising. The monthly jobs report, unusually overshadowed Friday, showed a labor market that held steady ahead of Trump’s biggest tariffs. The US added 228,000 jobs in March, beating estimates, though the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Powell for the first time addressed the reality of the tariffs, saying they were “higher than anticipated.” He said it is “too soon to say” what the proper rate path should be. Traders have ramped up bets on interest rate cuts this year to five, as the Fed is expected to set its efforts to cool inflation aside to tackle the bigger risk of economic slowdown.
Trump, posting on Truth Social on Friday, added to fears by saying that his policies “will never change” and warning that China “played it wrong.”
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER 28 updates
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Amazon could see up to $10 billion in profits go up in smoke because of Trump tariffs
Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi reports:
Read more here.
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Dow tanks 2,200 points, S&P 500 plummets nearly 6%
US stocks cratered on Friday as an escalating trade war sparked recession fears.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 5.8% to close in bear market territory, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) pulled back 5.5%.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank nearly 6% as the broad-based benchmark capped its worst week since March 2020. Over the past two days, the S&P 500 has lost more than 10%.
The fast-moving sell-off started once President Trump announced sweeping tariffs against US trading partners on Wednesday.
On Friday, China announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, further deepening fears of a global recession sparked by a trade war.
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Treasury Secretary says market rout is a ‘Mag 7 problem, not a MAGA problem’
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent came out in defense of Trump’s policies during an interview as stocks worldwide reacted to the President’s sweeping tariff announcement.
“The markets go up and down,” said Bessent. “For everyone who thinks these market declines are all based on the President’s economic policies, I can tell you that this market decline started with the Chinese AI announcement of DeepSeek,” Bessent told Carlson in an interview recorded on Thursday and released on Friday afternoon.
“If I were the analyze in my old hat…what’s happening with the market, I’d say it’s more a Mag 7 problem, not a MAGA problem,” said Bessent.
Some of the ‘Magnificent 7’ high flyers experienced a sharp decline in late January after the release of Chinese startup DeepSeek’s AI chatbot raised questions about valuations and lofty spending on artificial intelligence.
On Friday, ‘Mag 7’ components Nvidia and Tesla were leading to the downside. The AI chip maker dropped 8%, while the EV maker tanked 10%. The trade war sparked fears of a recession, and investors headed for the exits.
The S&P 500 was headed for its worst week since 2020 after China retaliated against the broad tariffs announced this week.
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Dow tanks 2,000 points as stocks hit session lows
Stocks moved to session lows in afternoon trading as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) plummeted 4.9%, or as much as 2,000 points. The blue-chip index was on pace to close in correction territory as an escalating trade war prompted a market-wide sell-off.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank about 5.5%, as the broad-based benchmark was headed for its worst week since 2020. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped around 5.5%, on track to close in bear market territory.
Every sector of the S&P 500 was in the red with more than an hour left of trading.
Stocks have plummeted since President Trump’s tariffs announced on Wednesday sparked worries of a recession as a global trade war intensifies.
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Bitcoin holds up above $84,000, GameStop stock soars
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose more than 3% over the past 24 hours as stocks sold off, prompting questions over whether the world’s largest cryptocurrency was unlinking from other risk assets.
Bitcoin hovered above $84,000 on Friday afternoon while the S&P 500 was on track for its worst week since 2020.
The cryptocurrency fell from around $86,000 on Wednesday following President Trump’s retaliatory tariff announcement to around $81,000 on Thursday morning. The token has since then partially recovered as the rest of the market continued sliding.
While investors may see it as a sign of unlinking from risky assets, one strategist warns it’s too early of a call.
“I wouldn’t jump to any decoupling conclusions just yet,” Sean Farrell, head of digital asset strategy at FundStrat said in a video to clients on Thursday. “There is likely a massive corporate treasury bid likely taking place right now from GME, MicroStrategy, and … its possible that Marathon is also buying.”
Strategy (MSTR), formally known as MicroStrategy, has been the biggest corporate buyer of bitcoin. Meanwhile, GameStop (GME) recently announced its board “has unanimously approved” to add bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset.
On Friday GME stock soared 11% after it was disclosed that CEO Ryan Cohen bought 500,000 shares of the video game retailer, at $22.50 each.
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Trump signs executive order to keep TikTok operating for 75 days, working with China to ‘close the deal’
Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howely and Alexis Keenan report:
Read more here.
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IPOs delayed as trade war sparks global market sell-off
Several initial public offerings have been put on hold as investors grappled with a sharp sell-off across global markets over the past two days.
Ticket platform StubHub delayed its road show presentations slated for next week, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile digital payments firm Klarna (KLAR.PVT), fintech company Chime (CHIM.PVT), and ad tech company MNTN also reportedly hit the pause button on going public in the wake of President Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement earlier this week.
Stocks sold off over the past two days as investors assess the impact an escalating trade war will have on economic growth.
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Here’s why Fed Chair Powell always wears a purple tie
It turns out there’s a reason Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell always wears a purple tie at his press conferences.
“At the beginning, the only significance was that I liked purple ties,” Powell quipped during a moderated Q&A interview on Friday. “But I will say, for the next press conference, I reached for a blue tie or a red tie, and [went], ‘Maybe not, you know?'”
Powell said the importance of Fed independence served as a key catalyst for his color selection.
Historically, “red” is a color most often associated with Republicans while “blue” is associated with Democrats.
“We are strictly nonpolitical. I can’t stress that enough,” Powell said. “It’s not that we’re bipartisan. We are nonpolitical. We don’t do that. And so purple was a good color for that. That’s all. Plus, I like purple ties.”
The timing of Powell’s comments came as the Fed chair was once again prodded by the president to lower interest rates.
Prior to Powell’s speech, President Trump posted on Truth Social that now “would be the PERFECT time” for the central bank leader to cut rates.
“He is always ‘late,’ but he could now change his image, and quickly,” Trump said. “Energy prices are down, Interest Rates are down, Inflation is down, even Eggs are down 69%, and Jobs are UP, all within two months – A BIG WIN for America. CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!”
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Trump tariffs may hammer these luxury goods giants that cater to the wealthy
Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi reports:
Read more here.
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Powell: ‘Persistent’ inflation from tariffs is possible
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted on Friday that inflation stemming from tariffs may not be as temporary as initially thought.
While speaking to the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing conference in Arlington, Va., Powell said, “It is now becoming clear that tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected, and the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.”
“While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it’s also possible that the effects could be more persistent,” Powell added. “Avoiding that outcome will depend on keeping longer-term inflation expectations well anchored, on the size of the effects, and on how long it takes for them to pass through fully to prices.”
Read more about Powell’s remarks here or watch the livestream of Powell’s remarks below:
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Nike jumps after Trump spoke with Vietnam’s president
Nike (NKE) jumped as much as 5% after President Trump confirmed he spoke with Vietnam’s top leader To Lam on Friday. Trump said that Vietnam wants to lower its tariffs to zero if it can reach an agreement with the US.
“Just had a very productive call with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who told me that Vietnam wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the U.S.,” Trump posted on social media. “I thanked him on behalf of our Country, and said I look forward to a meeting in the near future.”
Trump announced a 46% tariff on imports from Vietnam on Wednesday as part of a broad reciprocal tariff plan on the US’s trading partners worldwide. Nike sources 44% of its products from Vietnam.
Nike stock dropped 14% on Thursday following the “Liberation Day” tariff announcement as investors saw footwear companies as particularly challenged under the new trade regime.
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DuPont stock slides as it gets caught in China probe
Shares of DuPont (DD) slumped 16% after China hit the chemicals and materials manufacturer with a competition probe, as Beijing retaliated to Trump’s tariffs.
Regulators have started an anti-monopoly investigation into the Chinese subsidiary of DuPont, with the move coming alongside a 34% tariff hike on US goods and other measures in response to Trump’s trade offensive.
The US chemicals and materials producer already faces headwinds from those US tariffs themselves, given it reportedly has manufacturing facilities in several Chinese cities.
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Tesla losses steepen to 11%, Nvidia sinks 8%
Tesla losses steepened on Friday morning, sinking more than 11% as a g
24 Comments
ldng
Who would have thought …
redwood
Incompetence has a price
gdiamos
If I wanted to source semiconductors from the US to avoid tariffs, how would I go about doing that?
Don’t micron, intel, and GF have US fabs?
TomK32
Wikipedia has a list for this, point-wise today was #3 pushing yesterday down to #6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_daily_changes_…
Prosammer
I have very little understanding of geopolitics or economics, so these tariffs don't make sense to me, and they don't seem to make sense to most people.
What’s the best steelman argument for them?
I’ve read a bit of Peter Navarro and others who support this line of thinking, but I’m trying to understand: is there a coherent endgame here that benefits the country long-term, or is this just short-term political theater dressed up as strategy?
What would the best possible version of this policy look like if it were smart?
nipponese
He had a choice of hard landing vs soft landing. He chose hard landing — looking at history, large scale war follows failed economic war and alliances are arming up in anticipation. I hope Hegseth is ready.
danso
I didn't understand put options until this month. Today I bought puts w/ 1 or 2-week expirations on virtually all of the top 20 companies (by size) that were at their 52-week high. Didn't matter that I never had heard of some of them (AWK is a water company?), made gains on everything. My only mistake was not betting against Phillip Morris, thinking that people will probably want to vape/smoke even more during this crisis, but nope, they fell 7% too.
Obviously it can't be that easy, but seems like the market still thinks Trump might just do a complete 180? I guess he's done so multiple times the last two months, but those threats/alarms seem like dry runs from which he's crafted his current policy.
stephc_int13
The reason it is not a real market crash yet is the uncertainties around those tariffs, as they seem too absurd to be kept as announced.
And I believe this is a correct analysis, but I also think that Trump is over playing his hand and miscalculating the reactions of the world at large.
We are going to see a lot more chaos and weird moves during the coming weeks, but I am not optimist about the final outcome.
ChrisArchitect
Related earlier:
Dow Slides Another 1k Points. Nasdaq on Pace to Enter Bear Market
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43582292
megamike
China retaliates with Tarries hmmm dont Family Dollar Dollar General dont they have a lot of Chinese stuff? Well guess who if frequenting those stores more and more As inflation hits harder, middle-class shoppers gravitate to dollar stores
Dollar stores have traditionally served low-income and rural shoppers who have few options to stock up on what they need — but the pandemic is changing that. https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/inflation-hit…
steveBK123
Hoping the VC bros are enjoying what they sowed.
IPOs already getting pulled, M&A market dead, market selloff, inflation persisting (soon to rise), probable max tax brackets to rise, etc.
gsibble
Something like 60% of consumer spending is by the top 5% of income earners.
This is actually a tax on the rich. And they won't care about higher prices.
throwrec
[dead]
18172828286177
Are these tariffs even popular in the US?
throwrec
[dead]
hankchinaski
Be gready when others are fearful, glad to see everyone on this thread is the greatest hedge fund manager of all time selling and shorting, happy days
arghandugh
Trump and the Republican Party have forcibly assumed control of the federal government, dismantled it, voided every function of the Constitution and replaced people critical to the functioning of global affairs with morons and lunatics. The economic and social and international underpinnings of the planet have been detonated on purpose so the remaining pieces can be reordered for their exclusive benefit.
This is just the beginning, and I can’t wait to see even more threads here trying to rationalize why this is all Good, Actually before a thread discussing the end of Pax Americana gets killfiled by an Altman acolyte.
superconduct123
Say hypothetically the Tarrifs are all reversed on Monday, does the market go back to normal?
codedokode
By the way, in US do federal and local governments give a preference to locally manufactured products in government purchases?
lvl155
First of all, I don’t like Trump. I’ve voted blue all my life. Having said that, Trump is the only one willing to play ball with the Chinese. And the US national debt is not sustainable at this level. Something has to break in order to bring down servicing costs. I am not saying this is the right way to do all this. Far from it. But we do have a huge debt problem in this country and Chinese corps do not play by the rules (ie IP is nonexistent).
This could go wrong in so many ways and eventually undermine US strength while boosting Chinese global influence even further.
dismalaf
What's especially interesting is that the market already had tariffs priced in, yet what Trump announced was SO bad that the markets have dropped another 10%…
My European friends and family are amused… China is going to take the US' place in the world economy, Europe will become more self-sufficient and innovative, the US turning mercantilist will simply reduce their influence in the global marketplace… There's not much the world truly NEEDS from the US… Stuff like semiconductors were outsourced long ago, ASML and TSMC are the most important companies in that equation, neither are American.
gtech1
I'm willing to believe this administration is acting in good faith, but two things seem to contradict that, although maybe I'm wrong:
1. Why didn't they include services exported by the US in their 'tariff chart' ? The EU for example, imports a lot more US (tech amongst others) services than they export to the US. It seems disingenous
2. Why couldn't this tariff strategy be implemented in a more calculated, predictable, slow way to give everyone time to adjust, at home and abroad. What's to gain from doing it this way over the one I mentioned ?
rescripting
Can someone explain how tariffs aren’t both a tax and inflation, all rolled in to one? These are two of the most toxic words in politics and yet those most allergic to them are relatively quiet.
TooSmugToFail
Wow. Who would have thought that international trade policy written in crayon could go this wrong. Shocked.