Wall Street suffered another massive sell-off Friday. Major US stock indexes experienced their biggest two-day drop since the Pandemic Era. China responded with extensive retaliatory duties against American products.
The escalating tensions in the trade wars caused by President Donald Trump are causing investors to prepare for a possible global recession.
Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged by 2,011 or 4.98% points. This is its biggest one-day drop since June 2020.
The blue-chip index is now down 14% since its record high, as concerns about a trade war escalate.
Dow Jones has fallen almost 2,000 point today alone, and is still dropping. Trump’s Trade War is wrecking the stock market right now. Tariffs have backfired and allies are retaliating. Wall Street has been bleeding.
S&P 500 Index dropped 5.4% Friday, after dropping 4.84% Thursday.
The benchmark index has now fallen 17% since its high, moving closer to the bear market zone.
The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily tech-heavy, fell 5.5% on Friday, adding to Thursday’s loss of 6%. It now stands 22% lower than its high from December, making it an official bear market according to Wall Street.
The announcement by China’s Ministry of Commerce of a 34% tariff was a shock to investors. It dashed any hopes of diplomatic negotiation and confirmed an economic upsurge.
The countermeasures were aggressive, and there was concern that the global supply chain would be disrupted.
The market’s Friday rout was dominated by technology stocks, as some of the biggest U.S. companies suffered major losses because of their dependence on Chinese markets.
Apple’s shares fell 7% this week, adding to the 13% loss for the previous seven days. Nvidia, one of the leading players in the artificial intelligence market and semiconductors, fell 8%. Tesla shares also fell 10% as trade uncertainty increased.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was also affected by the decline of large industrial exporters. Boeing and Caterpillar both depend heavily on the international market and fell by 9% and 6 % respectively. This dragged down the Dow.
Beijing increased pressure on American companies by expanding the “unreliable entity list,” which is a target of businesses accused of breaking market rules. Chinese regulators also launched an antitrust investigation into DuPont’s chemical company, which caused its stock price to plummet 12%.
Investors rushed into bonds issued by the government in a classic “flight to safety”. Investors rushed into government bonds as the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes dropped below 4%.
The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge”, spiked above 40. This is a level that’s typically linked to intense panic in the market.
The March Jobs Report painted a mixed image amid the chaos on the stock market.
While the US economy added 228,000 jobs, unemployment rose to 4.2%.
The data posted on President Trump’s Truth Social platform showed that the tariff strategy he had implemented was paying off.
Market participants now watch closely for any further steps taken by Beijing in retaliation and possible policy responses of the Federal Reserve. The Fed is already dealing with rising inflation and a slowing economy.
As new information becomes available, this post Dow drops over 2,000 as China slaps tariffs in retaliation and tech stocks lead Wall Street collapse may be updated.
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