Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Plummet as Investors React to Trump Tariff News; Dow Poised to Fall 1,200 Points

Stock futures plunged Thursday as market participants digested the highly anticipated announcement late yesterday of new tariffs against nearly all U.S. trading partners. 

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were recently down 3%, indicating a decline of more than 1,200 points at the open, while S&P 500 futures dropped 3.6% and Nasdaq futures tumbled 4%. Stocks closed higher in yesterday’s regular trading session—for the S&P 500, it marked the third straight day of gains—but fell sharply in extended hours after President Trump unveiled his sweeping plan to tax imports.

The U.S. is imposing a minimum 10% tariff on nearly all countries. Trump also announced country-specific tariffs on 60 nations equivalent to half the rate the administration claims those countries levy on U.S. goods in the form of “tariffs, non-monetary barriers, and other forms of cheating.” The tariffs will be applied to all of America’s largest trading partners, and include a 20% rate on imports from the European Union, 26% on Japanese imports, and 34% on imports from China.

Trading had been volatile in the run-up to the rollout of the new tariffs—the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite posted their biggest monthly losses since 2022 in March—amid concerns that the trade measure would reignite inflation and stall economic growth, while harming companies that do business around the world.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which has fallen in recent days as the economic concerns have increased, fell to 4.09% this morning from 4.20% at yesterday’s close. The yield, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, is trading at its lowest level since October.

Shares of retailers, which source a large portion of the products they sell from other countries, were among the big decliners in premarket trading Thursday. Nike (NKE) was down about 10%, as was Dollar Tree (DLTR) and Best Buy (BBY). Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT) each dropped about 5%.

Apple (AAPL), which has a major manufacturing presence in China, Vietnam and India, was the biggest decliner among mega-cap technology stocks, falling more than 7%.

Amazon (AMZN), Tesla (TSLA) and Nvidia (NVDA) each dropped about 6%, while Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG), Meta Platforms (META) and Broadcom (AVGO) also fell sharply.

Among other noteworthy tech movers, data analytics software provider Palantir (PLTR) was down 5%, server marker Super Micro Computer (SMCI) slid 8% and adtech company AppLovin (APP) plunged 10%.

Bitcoin was trading at around $83,000 this morning, down from about $88,000 just before Trump spoke late yesterday afternoon, as investors flee risky assets. The bitcoin decline was pulling crypto stocks, including Strategy (MSTR) and Coinbase (COIN), sharply lower.

Gold futures, which have hit a series of record highs in recent days, were down 1.6% at $3,115 an ounce, while West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, plunged more than 5% to $67.85.