Futures Pointing To Extended Sell-Off On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a sharply lower open on Friday, with stocks likely to extend the nosedive seen in the previous session.

Ongoing concerns about a global trade war are likely to weigh on Wall Street after China announced retaliatory tariff on U.S. goods in reaction to President Donald Trump's new levies.

China's finance ministry announced a 34 percent tariff will be imposed on all imported goods originating from the U.S. beginning on April 10.

The new tariff matches the "reciprocal tariff" Trump plans to impose on China, although the country will face a 54 percent effective rate when the new levies are combined with existing duties.

The ministry called Trump's tariff plan a "typical unilateral bullying practice" that is "inconsistent with international trade rules."

"China urges the United States to immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and resolve trade differences through consultation in an equal, respectful and mutually beneficial manner," the ministry said, according to a Google translation.

Canada and the European Union are also preparing countermeasures, leading to concerns about a trade war that could fuel inflation and damage the global economy.

The futures remained sharply lower even after a closely watched Labor Department report showed employment in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of March.

Stocks plummeted during trading on Thursday amid concerns about a global trade war following Trump's tariff announcement. The sell-off dragged the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 down to their lowest levels since last August, while the Dow slumped to a nearly seven-month closing low.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session near their worst levels of the day. The Nasdaq plummeted 1,050.44 points or 6.0 percent to 16,550.61, the S&P 500 plunged 274.45 points or 4.8 percent to 5,396.52 and the Dow tumbled 1,696.39 points or 4.0 percent to 40,545.93.

The nosedive on Wall Street came after Trump delivered a highly anticipated speech on Wednesday outlining his plan to impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. trade partners.

Trump's "reciprocal tariff" plan calls for a baseline 10 percent tariff to be imposed on all U.S. imports except those compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Certain countries deemed the "worst offenders" will face much higher tariffs, with countries like Cambodia, Laos, Madagascar and Vietnam set to be charged nearly 50 percent.

"The roller coaster ride continues as the initial leaks were positive (only 10% baseline tariffs), but then the details were released and they were far worse than expected (24-49% outside of the EU and UK)," said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Northlight Asset Management.

He added, "The silver lining for investors could be that this is only a starting point for negotiations with other countries and ultimately tariff rates will come down across the board - but for now traders are shooting first and asking questions later."

Possibly adding to the negative sentiment, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. service sector growth slowed by more than anticipated in the month of March.

The ISM said its services PMI fell to 50.8 in March after inching up to 53.5 in February. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth, economists had expected the index to show a more modest decrease to 53.0.

Computer hardware stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index plummeting by 13.6 percent to its lowest closing level in over a year.

Substantial weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 9.9 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index also plunged to a one-year closing low.

Banking stocks also showed a significant move to the downside, dragging the KBW Bank Index down by 9.9 percent to its lowest intraday level in almost seven months.

Networking, oil producer and transportation stocks also saw considerable weakness amid a broad based sell-off on Wall Street.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are plummeting $4.80 to $62.15 a barrel after plunging $4.76 to $66.95 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after tumbling $44.50 to $3,121.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are edging down $1.80 to $3,119.90 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 145.20 yen versus the 146.06 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is unchanged compared to yesterday's $1.1052.

Asia

Asian stocks extended losses in thin trading on Friday, with markets in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan closed for Tomb Sweeping Day.

Investor sentiment remained fragile as U.S. President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs fueled concerns about inflation and growth.

According to UBS, the latest tariff measures unveiled by Trump may knock down U.S. economic growth by 2 percentage points this year and raise inflation close to 5 percent.

However, Trump has downplayed the impact. "The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom and the country is going to boom," Trump said.

As growth worries mount, there is now increased speculation that the Federal Reserve could accelerate interest rate cuts to make it easier for U.S. companies and households to borrow and spend.

Investors await the monthly U.S. jobs report as well as remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later in day for further direction.

The dollar weakened to a six-month low and gold edged down from recent record highs, while crude oil prices fell below $70 a barrel on demand concerns and a larger-than-expected production increase by OPEC and its allies.

Japanese markets tumbled to hit an eight-month low as lower bond yields weighed on banks and exporters were hit by a stronger yen.

The Nikkei 225 Index plunged 2.8 percent to 33,780.58, while the broader Topix Index settled 3.4 percent lower at 2,482.06.

Honda Motor, Toyota, Sony, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizuho Financial dove 4-11 percent. Tech stocks also faced selling pressure, with SoftBank Group and Advantest tumbling 7-8 percent.

Seoul stocks fell for a third day running amid tariff woes and as President Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted by the Constitutional Court, ushering in an election. The Kospi declined 0.9 percent to 2,465.42, dragged down by semiconductor and auto shares.

Australian markets fell sharply to hit an eight-month low, with energy and tech stocks leading losses on concerns about the global economic outlook.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index slumped 2.4 percent to 7,667.80, while the broader All Ordinaries Index closed 2.6 percent lower at 7,847.60.

Amotiv shares plummeted nearly 17 percent after the car accessories manufacturer warned it expects lower revenue growth and earnings this financial year.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index dropped 0.9 percent to 12,225.28.

Europe

European shares have moved sharply lower on Friday, extending steep losses from the previous session after U.S. President Donald Trump announced significantly harsher-than-expected tariffs. Investors were also reacting to mixed economic readings from Germany and France.

German factory orders unexpectedly stagnated in February even though U.S. importers brought forward imports to beat the impending tariffs, Destaits reported today.

New orders in the manufacturing sector remained unchanged in February following a 5.5 percent drop in January. Orders were forecast to grow 3.4 percent.

Elsewhere, French industrial production grew 0.7 percent month-on-month in February, in contrast to the 0.5 percent decrease in January, figures from the statistical office INSEE showed. Economists had forecast output to grow 0.5 percent.

Likewise, manufacturing output advanced 1.4 percent after a 0.5 percent drop in the previous month.

While the German DAX Index is down by 4.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are both down by 3.9 percent.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore have shown substantial moves to the downside as copper prices plummet in London.

BP Plc and Shell have also tumbled as oil prices plunge and remain on track for the worst week in months on concerns about a possible recession in the U.S. and other developed countries.

JPMorgan has raised the probability of a global recession this year to 60 percent, from a previous 40 percent.

AstraZeneca, ASM International and Infineon Technologies have also slumped as Trump said tariffs on pharmaceutical and semiconductor imports will be announced soon.

Gerresheimer has also plummeted after reports said KKR has abandoned a private equity consortium discussing a takeover of the German speciality packaging company.

U.S. Economic News

A closely watched report released by the Labor Department on Friday showed employment in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of March.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 228,000 jobs in March after climbing by a downwardly revised 117,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to rise by 135,000 jobs compared to the addition of 151,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.2 percent in March from 4.1 percent in February. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.

At 11:25 pm ET, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on the economic outlook at the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing's annual conference.

Federal Reserve Board Governor Michael Barr is due to speaks on "Artificial Intelligence and Banking" at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, San Francisco State University, and University of California Santa Cruz 2025 Fintech Conference at 12 pm ET.

At 12:45 pm ET, Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller is scheduled to participate in a discussion on "Payments" at the 2025 New York Fed Innovation Conference.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com