Stocks slump on latest tariffs, soft jobs data
U.S. stocks slumped on Friday, with the S&P on track for its biggest daily percentage decline in more than three months as new U.S. tariffs on dozens of trading partners and a surprisingly weak jobs report spurred selling pressure.
Also weighing on equities was a tumble in Amazon.com shares after the company posted quarterly results but failed to meet lofty expectations for its Amazon Web Services cloud computing unit.
Just hours before the tariff deadline on Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing duties on U.S. imports from countries, including Canada, Brazil, India and Taiwan, in his latest round of levies as countries attempted to seek ways to reach better deals.
Further denting confidence in the economic picture, data showed U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in July while the prior month's report was revised sharply lower, indicating the labor market may be starting to crack.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 101.60 points, or 1.60%, to end at 6,237.79 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 472.78 points, or 2.24%, to 20,649.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 543.97 points, or 1.23%, to 43,587.01.
Market expectations the Fed will cut rates by at least 25 basis points at its September meeting stood at 80.9%, according to CME's FedWatch Tool, up from 37.7% in the prior session.
Source : Reuters
