Dow Drops Ahead of Jobs Report as Trump Tariffs Hit Futures
Stock futures were pointing to further losses Friday as President Donald Trump’s plan to hike tariffs on some U.S. trading partners put investors in a risk-off mood.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 276 points, or 0.6%. S&P 500 futures and contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 also dropped 0.6%.
The U.S. will raise tariffs on scores of nations, effective just after midnight on Aug. 7, according to an executive order signed by Trump on Thursday. He had previously pledged to hike levies on Aug. 1. The new effective date will give Customs and Border Protection time to update the Harmonized Tariff Schedule for the higher levies, a senior administration official told reporters.
Adding to the uncertainty, Amazon took some of the shine off what has been a strong earnings season for Big Tech. The online retailer’s guidance for third-quarter operating profit was weaker than analysts were expecting.
Investors were also feeling cautious ahead of a nonfarm payrolls report that will give a sense of how Trump’s tariffs are affecting the U.S. labor market. Even a hotter-than-expected reading could go down badly, because it would make it even less likely the Fed will cut interest rates in September.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note ticked up 1 basis point to 4.39% on Friday. The dollar was flat against a weighted basket of its peers, and gold slid 0.3% to $3,340 an ounce.