US markets sink as Donald Trump rekindles trade tensions; Apple drops over 3%

Friday’s slide deepened the week’s damage, leaving the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq all more than 2 percent lower over the five sessions.

U.S. stocks slid on Friday after President Donald Trump reignited trade war fears, jolting investor sentiment just as markets were already nervy due to rising bond yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 359 points, or 0.9 percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively — all three ending the week more than 2 percent lower.

Among the biggest drags was Apple, which dropped 3.5 percent after Trump proposed a sweeping tariff on foreign-made iPhones sold in the U.S. The tech heavyweight — one of the market’s most influential stocks — was singled out in a social media post where Trump said Apple must manufacture iPhones domestically or face a 25 percent duty.

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The president also escalated tensions with the European Union, calling trade negotiations “dead” and recommending a blanket 50 percent tariff on EU imports starting June 1, 2025. The unexpected turn has rattled investors who had grown hopeful that a 90-day tariff pause and early deals with the U.K. and China would pave the way for broader de-escalation.

Semiconductor stocks also took a hit, with Qualcomm down 3.3 percent, Micron falling 2.5 percent, and Nvidia slipping 1 percent.

Nuclear stocks, however, bucked the trend. Shares of Oklo and NuScale jumped more than 8 percent each after reports suggested Trump may soon sign executive orders promoting nuclear power. Constellation Energy rose 2 percent, while Cameco gained 4 percent.

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In corporate news, Intuit surged nearly 8 percent after raising its full-year guidance and beating earnings expectations for the fiscal third quarter — a rare bright spot on an otherwise sour day for Wall Street.

Investor optimism had been riding on hopes that the three-month pause in trade tensions would yield broader global agreements. But Trump’s latest tariff threats have cast a shadow over that narrative, raising doubts about whether any meaningful progress will materialize.

Friday’s slide deepened the week’s damage, leaving the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq all more than 2 percent lower over the five sessions.

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