The stock market stumbled Friday after President Donald Trump threatened a sweeping increase in tariffs on Chinese imports, sending equity indices and risk sentiment sharply lower.
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"Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile and sending letters to countries throughout the world that they want to impose export controls on every element of production involving rare earths," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"I was to meet President Xi in two weeks at APEC in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so."
Trump said he would "financially counter" Beijing's move, adding that for every element China has monopolized, "we have two."
Crucially for markets, the president hinted that a "massive increase of tariffs" on Chinese goods entering the U.S. was among several measures under consideration.
The announcement rattled global markets. By 12:25 p.m. ET, the Nasdaq 100 fell nearly 2% to below 24,600 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped about 400 points, or 1%, to below 46,000.
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) led tech decliners, dropping 7% after a spectacular week that had put it on track for its best weekly performance since 2016.
Chinese stocks were hit particularly hard, with JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ:JD), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA), Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) and PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) each falling roughly 4% or more.
The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSE:FXI) sank 3.2%.
The U.S. dollar weakened, while gold prices rebounded above $4,000 per ounce as investors sought safety. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) also came under pressure, falling 1.6% to trade below $120,000.
Friday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | Chg % |
| • Dow Jones | 45,957.81 | -0.9% |
| • S&P 500 | 6,650.37 | -1.3% |
| • Russell 2000 | 2,427.07 | -1.7% |
| • Nasdaq 100 | 24,642.87 | -1.8% |
S&P 500’s Top 5 Gainers On Friday
S&P 500’s Top 5 Losers On Friday
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