Stock futures were little changed Friday as traders weighed the latest developments on the tariff front and tried to end a week of wild market swings on a high note. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded near the flatline. S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures added around 0.1% each. Tariff fears remain at the forefront of investors’ minds after President Donald Trump temporarily slashed his country-specific duties to a universal rate of 10% — except for China. Goods from Beijing will see a rate of 145%, a White House official confirmed to CNBC. China on Friday retaliated by raising its levies on U.S. products to 125% from 84%. “Even if the U.S. continues to impose higher tariffs, it will no longer make economic sense and will become a joke in the history of world economy,” the Chinese finance ministry said in a statement, according to a CNBC translation. Stock futures initially dropped on China’s move. However, they recovered after the European Union said its trade representative was flying to Washington on Sunday to “try and sign deals.” Wall Street is coming off a losing session. The S&P 500 fell 3.46% on Thursday, while the 30-stock Dow tumbled 1,014.79 points, or 2.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended the day lower by 4.31%. Thursday’s declines wiped a chunk of the gains the major averages saw on Wednesday after Trump announced a 90-day reprieve on some of his high “reciprocal” tariffs. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 surged 9.52% for its third-largest gain in a single day since World War II and the 30-stock Dow skyrocketed more than 2,900 points. Stocks resumed their losing ways on Thursday as traders went into risk-off mode, with trade policy uncertainty weighing on sentiment. The “lower tariff level is still a huge problem, and deadlines three months out offer no certainty for consumers, business, and investors,” said Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management. “This set of policies will leave the U.S. with higher inflation, lower economic growth, and a frustrated stock market.”
Here are the U.S. tariffs currently in place:
- 145% duty on all goods from China
- 25% tariffs targeting aluminum, autos and goods from Canada and Mexico not under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
- 10% levy on all other imports
Despite the tumultuous week, the three major averages are on pace for solid gains in the period. The S&P 500 is on pace for a 3.8% advance, its best weekly performance since November. The Nasdaq is on track to gain 5.1%. The Dow is on pace for a 3.3% jump week to date. To be sure, the major averages remain sharply lower since April 2, when the White House announced so-called reciprocal tariffs on goods from other countries. Since then, the S&P 500 is down 7.1%. The 10-year Treasury yield was little changed on Friday as traders continued to digest the latest developments on the trade front. At 7:13 a.m. ET, the 10-year Treasury yield climbed nearly 1 basis point to 4.401%. The 2-year Treasury yield was flat on the day at 3.843%. Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Friday, after Wall Street resumed sell-off overnight as trade war tensions between the world’s two largest economies fueled risk-off mood. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.82% to close at 7,646.5. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 2.96% to close at 33,585.58 while the Topix traded 2.85% lower to close at 2,466.91. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.5% to end the trading day at 2,432.72 and the small-cap Kosdaq rose 2.02% to close at 695.59. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 1.13% to close at 20,914.69 while China’s CSI 300 added 0.41% to close at 3,750.52. Oil prices rose on Friday but were set to drop for a second week on concerns prolonged trade war between the United States and China, the world’s largest economies, will crush crude consumption as their dispute curtails economic growth. Brent futures gained 29 cents, 0.5%, to $63.62 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures advanced 29 cents, or 0.5%, to $60.36. Both benchmarks settled over $2 lower on Thursday. Brent is set to fall 3% this week, adding to an 11% drop in the prior week, while WTI is set to decline 2.7%, after also falling 11% in the previous week. Safe-haven gold surpassed the key $3,200 mark for the first time on Friday, spurred by a weaker dollar and economic concerns due to an intensifying trade war. Spot gold jumped over 1.3% to $3,216.27 an ounce after hitting a record high of $3,219.84 earlier in the session. Bullion is up over 5% so far this week. U.S. gold futures climbed 1.7% to $3,230.60. “Recession risks are mounting, bond yields are soaring, and the U.S. dollar continues to weaken – all factors reinforcing gold’s role as a crisis hedge and inflation shield,” said Alexander Zumpfe, a precious metals trader at Heraeus Metals Germany.