Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Plunge as China Retaliates Against Trump Tariffs; Dow Poised to Drop 1,200 Points as Selloff Continues

Futures are pointing to another day of heavy losses for U.S. stocks on Friday as fears grow that a deepening global trade war will cut into corporate profits and stall economic growth. 

Futures tied the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 3% recently, indicating a decline of about 1,200 points at the open. S&P 500 futures also dropped 3%, while Nasdaq futures were off 3.2%. The major indexes on Thursday posted their biggest losses since 2020 as investors reacted to President Donald Trump’s announcement late Wednesday of sweeping tariffs against U.S. trading partners.

The selloff in premarket trading Friday comes as China, one of America’s leading trade partners, announced 34% tariffs on all U.S. imports, matching the “reciprocal” tariff that Trump has imposed on Chinese products. Beijing also unveiled other measures to restrict U.S. trade.

White House officials argue that tariffs will restore competitive balance and bring manufacturing and jobs back to the U.S., but the speed and depth of the policies announced this week have heightened concerns among economists and investors that inflation will reignite and the economy will fall into a recession.

While the focus is on tariffs, investors will also be paying close attention to the scheduled release this morning of the March jobs report from the Labor Department. Economists project that U.S. employers added 140,000 jobs last month, down slightly from the previous month, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which has plunged in recent days as the economic concerns have mounted, was at 3.89% this morning, down from 4.06% at yesterday’s close. The yield, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, is at its lowest level since early October.

Shares of world’s largest technology companies, which plummeted yesterday, were down sharply across the board in premarket trading Friday. Apple (AAPL), which has a major manufacturing presence in China, was down more than 4%, as were chipmakers Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO). Amazon (AMZN) and Tesla (TSLA) dropped 6%, Meta Platforms (META) declined 5%, and Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG) each slipped more than 3%.

Chip stocks were among the hardest hit this morning, with Intel (INTC), Marvell Technology (MRVL) and Arm Holdings (ARM) all falling more than 7%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was down more than 5% ahead of the bell.

Shares of Nike (NKE) were down 8%, adding to yesterday’s 14% decline. Boeing, which lost 10% yesterday, was down another 6% this morning. Major financial institutions also remained under pressure, as Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C) and Goldman Sachs (GS) each fell about 6%.

Energy stocks were also on the decline as oil prices continued to fall. Shares of Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) were each down about 4%.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, plunged 8% to $61.50 per parrel this morning, adding to yesterday’s steep decline, amid concerns about a global trade war and as oil producing countries sped up plans to increase output.

Gold futures, which hit a series of record highs earlier this week before falling yesterday, were up 0.4% at $3,130 an ounce.

Bitcoin was little-changed this morning at $82,400 after falling sharply yesterday. The digital currency was trading at around $88,000 late Wednesday before President Trump unveiled the reciprocal tariffs.