Wall Street tumbles again as China hits back with tariffs; Nasdaq inches towards bear territory, Dow sinks over 1,200 points

Hongkong and China markets were closed for the Qingming Festival. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.75 percent to close at 33,780.58 while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.86% to close at 2,465.42. The Kospi faced selling pressure as the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The Trump administration's tariff announcements continued to weigh heavy as US markets opened lower for the second day in a row. By 11:04 aam EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded more than 1,200 points lower, or 3%, the S&P 500 fell 3.5% and the Nasdaq Composite fell by nearly 3.8%

Nasdaq had entered bear territory, falling nearly 21 percent from its record high of 20204.58 on December 16, 2024.

On Thursday, US markets faced one of the worst trading days since 2020. The S&P 500 fell 4.85 percent, to end at 5,395.92 points, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1,053.60 points to 16,547.45. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell nearly 4 percent to close at 3.98 percent, to 40,542.71. Global markets faced pressure after US President Trump announced broad-based tariffs on over 150 countries.

Tech stocks continued to see selling as major players such as Apple fell more than 3 percent while Nvidia and Tesla fell 5 percent and 6 percent.

Pressure is expected to continue to build as global majors start announcing plans of retaliation. China’s Finance Ministry on Friday said it will impose a 34 percent tariff on all goods imported from the U.S. starting on April 10, following duties imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this week. On Thursday, Canada announced that it would retaliate to the tariffs issued by US President Donald Trump soon, "with purpose and with force".

US markets will also be reacting to the latest US job data. CNBC reports that US payrolls rose by 228,000 in March, up from the revised 117,000 in February. On the other hand, the unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent for the same period.

The Vix (CBOE Index) also jumped more than 9 points on Friday morning to around 39.60.  By 9:46 am, it jumped up nearly 38.51% to 41.58.

Amidst volatility in the equities and commodities market, the 10-year Treasury yield fell below 4% as investors moved towards bonds for safety.

Asian markets continue trading in the red

Hong Kong and China markets were closed for the Qingming Festival. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.75 percent to close at 33,780.5,8 while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.86% to close at 2,465.42. The Kospi faced selling pressure as the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Indian markets also traded in the red. At close, the Sensex was down 930.67 points or 1.22 percent at 75,364.69, and the Nifty was down 345.65 points or 1.49 percent at 22,904.45. All sectoral indices ended in the red, including the pharma index.