Tariff Word Ravages Futures
Stock futures cratered Thursday after President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs of at least 10% and even higher for some countries, raising the risks of a global trade war that hits the already sputtering U.S. economy.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials lost 1,160 points, or 2.7%, to 41,332.
Futures for the S&P 500 index sank 186 points, or 3.3%, to 5,526.25, with the benchmark on pace for its biggest one-day loss since 2022.
Extrapolating the losses in after hours Wednesday trading, the S&P 500 is on course to fall back into a correction during regular hours trading Thursday and return to the lowest levels since before Trump’s election in November.
Futures for the tech-heavy NASDAQ plunged 743.25 points, or 3.8%, to 19,014.75.
Shares of multinational companies tumbled in premarket trading. Nike and Apple dropped 11% and 7%, respectively. Big sellers of imported goods were among the hardest hit. Five Below lost 16%, Dollar Tree tumbled 11%, and Gap plunged nearly 12%. Tech shares dropped in an overall risk-off mood, with Nvidia off 5% and Tesla also down 5%.
The White House unveiled a baseline tariff rate of 10% on all countries that goes into effect Saturday. Even bigger duties against countries that levy higher rates on the U.S. will be charged in coming days, according to the administration.
These rates will end up being much higher than investors’ expected for many nations. For example, the effective tariff rate for China will now be 54% when accounting for the new reciprocal rate and duties already levied against the country. Traders had hoped a 10%-to-20% rate would be a universally applied cap, not a minimum starting point.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index faded 2.5% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was down 1.5%.
Oil prices fell $4.58 to $67.13 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $56.40 to $3,109.80 U.S. an ounce.
