US market extends drop as strong jobs report fails to soothe tariff fears

The S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq 100 Index futures sank as China imposed a 34 per cent tariff on all American imports

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A screen shows the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. Friday’s losses follow a massive wipe out by US stocks on Thursday that erased US$2.5 trillion in value in the wake of Trump’s drastic new trade tariffs which ignited widespread recession fears. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:56pm, 4 Apr 2025Updated: 9:59pm, 4 Apr 2025

US stock futures tumbled as much as 4.1 per cent on Friday, as strong labour data did little to mitigate the anxiety about the impact of a trade war on domestic economy.

Contracts on the S&P 500 Index plunged and Nasdaq 100 Index futures sank as much as 4.6 per cent as China imposed a 34 per cent tariff on all American imports starting April 10, in addition to targeted actions against poultry producers and weapons makers, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Technology megacaps including Nvidia, Tesla and Apple fell premarket. US-listed Chinese stocks like Alibaba and Baidu also slumped. The SPDR S&P Bank ETF fell as much as 1 per cent, with Morgan Stanley leading the declines.

The latest salvo in Donald Trump’s trade war added to volatility that’s been gripping global financial markets since the president announced the harshest tariffs in a century. The Cboe Volatility Index soared above 40 – levels associated with some of the worst market turbulence in recent memory. Treasuries continued to soar as investors sought safety, while a measure of credit risk spiked to the highest level since the regional banking crisis in March 2023.

A person points to a screen showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. The latest salvo in Donald Trump’s trade war added to volatility that’s been gripping global financial markets since the president announced the harshest tariffs in a century. Photo: EPA-EFE

US job growth beat forecasts in March and the unemployment rate edged up, pointing to a healthy labour market before the economy gets hit by widespread tariffs. This was the first major piece of data for the quarter – which could have wide-ranging implications for bond, stock and currency markets as well as the Fed’s next moves. Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to deliver remarks at 11.25am in Arlington, Virginia, which will be parsed for signs of weakness spreading to the workforce.

“A good jobs report won’t be enough to quell recession fears because it’s backward-looking and won’t full give insight into how hard the economy will take a hit from the trade war,” Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments said over the phone.