US markets close sharply lower amid fears of looming global trade war

05 Apr 2025 Evaluate

The US markets have extended their losses and closed sharply lower on Friday as stocks showed another substantial move to the downside during trading with Nasdaq and S&P 500 plunging to their lowest closing levels in eleven months. The US markets have faced the repercussions of US tariffs announcement as China, a one of biggest trading partner of US, has retaliated with 34% tariffs on US goods keeping the investors on edge. The reports of Canada and the European Union purportedly preparing countermeasures amid US tariff announcement have rekindled fears of looming global trade war among the market participants. Besides, Federal reserve Chair Powell said it is becoming clear that the 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 which further damped the investor sentiments. 

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a typically closely watched Labor Department report showing employment in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of March. The unemployment rate moved up to 4.2%, higher than the 4.1% forecast as the labor force participation rate also increased. On sectoral front, energy stocks saw substantial weakness on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Oil Index down by 11.2 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively as the crude oil prices fell to their lowest levels in over three years. Gold stocks also moved sharply lower amid a nosedive by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plunging by 9.5 percent. 

Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2,231.07 points or 5.5 percent to 38,314.86, Nasdaq fell 962.82 points or 5.82 percent to 15,587.79 and S&P 500 was down by 322.44 points or 5.97 percent to 5,074.08.


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