Wall Street falls the most since May on Trump tariff news and weak US job data
Treasury yields also fell sharply, amid fears of a weakening economy and uncertainty from the US president’s trade policy
The US stock market had its worst day since May on Friday after the government reported a sharp slowdown in hiring and President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from a number of US trading partners.
The S&P 500 fell 1.6 per cent, its biggest decline since May 21 and its fourth straight loss. The index also posted a 2.4 per cent loss for the week, marking a sharp shift from last week’s record-setting streak of gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite fell 2.2 per cent.
Worries on Wall Street about a weakening economy were heavily reinforced by the latest report on job growth in the US. Employers added just 73,000 jobs in July. That is sharply lower than economists expected. The Labour Department also reported that revisions shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off May and June payrolls.
Markets also reacted to the latest tariff news. Trump announced tariff rates on dozens of countries and pushed back the scheduled effective date to August 7, adding more uncertainty to the global trade picture.
“The market has been felled by a one-two punch of additional tariffs, as well as the weaker-than-expected employment data – not only for this month, but for the downward revisions to the prior months,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA.