Stocks sink on Trump tariffs, US jobs data
Stock markets slid Friday after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on dozens of trading partners and weak US jobs data fuelled the fall.
Wall Street's Dow Jones index dropped more than 1.2 percent as trading got underway in New York, while Paris and Frankfurt tumbled more than two percent. The dollar gave up earlier gains against key currencies.
With hours to go before Trump's August 1 deadline for governments to make toll-averting deals, the president unveiled a list of sweeping levies.
Hours later, the US Labor Department said the US economy added just 73,000 jobs in July while revising lower the figures for May and June.
"The US payrolls data has eclipsed news about the latest tariff rates applied to the world's economies by Donald Trump, and is now dominating markets," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group.
Earlier, she noted, tariffs were "the main theme sucking risk sentiment from financial markets".
Governments around the world have been scrambling to cut deals with the White House since Trump unveiled his bombshell "Liberation Day" tariffs on April 2.
He has delayed implementation of the tariffs several times -- the latest move pushing them back by a week to August 7.
- Switzerland, Canada tariff hit -
Some trading partners have reached deals with the United States -- including Britain, the European Union, Japan and South Korea.
China remains in talks with Washington to extend a fragile truce in place since May.
For those in the crosshairs of the latest outburst, tariff rates range from 10 percent to 41 percent.
Trump unveiled new levies Thursday on about 70 economies -- including a blistering 35-percent rate on Canada -- as he seeks to reshape global trade to benefit the US economy.
The Swiss government on Friday said it would negotiate with the United States to try to avoid the 39-percent tariff that could hit key industries.
Shares in European pharmaceutical firms meanwhile slumped following the president's threat to punish them if they did not lower prices for medicines in the United States.
Tariffs uncertainty overshadowed earnings from major tech titans this week that saw Apple on Thursday post double-digit quarterly revenue growth that beat expectations.
Amazon said quarterly profits jumped 35 percent as key major investments in AI technology paid off, though its outlook for the next three months disappointed.
Google, Microsoft and Meta have also posted bumper results in recent days.
- Key figures at around 1345 GMT -
New York - Dow: DOWN 1.2 percent at 44,591.47 points
New York - S&P 500: DOWN 1.4 percent at 6,253.54
New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 1.8 percent at 20,745.60
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 percent at 9,055.06
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 2.8 percent at 7,554.36
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 2.6 percent at 23,453.00
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 40,799.60 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 24,507.81 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,559.95 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1570 from $1.1421 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3273 from $1.3208
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 148.23 yen from 150.68 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 87.13 pence from 86.43 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $68.91 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.6 percent at $71.25
K.Benard--PP
