‘Trump kicks markets in the gut’ — US stocks are set for more pain as trade-war fears grip investors again

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Global stocks plunged on Friday, following Thursday’s tumble in US stock markets, after President Trump announced a new wave of tariffs on Chinese goods.
In a Tweet on Thursday, Trump said that the US would add an additional tariff on $300 billion of Chinese goods.
US futures are falling, meaning the S&P 500 and Dow will continue their decline on Friday.
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Global stocks plunged on Friday, after US President Donald Trump announced a new wave of tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods. Asian markets closed down considerably on the news, posting more than 1.4% losses, while European markets slid more than 1% on Friday morning. US futures were also sliding, erasing gains after the Fed cut rates.

"Trump kicks markets in the gut with latest tariff threat," the title of one stocks report by Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at Spreadex. "The financial markets got a Trump thumping on Friday morning, the European indices left reeling by the President’s shock – but not that shocking – escalation of the trade war with China."

"Investors probably should have been prepared for this kind of move from the US considering Trump’s negotiations-tanking Twitter rant earlier in the week," he wrote.

Here’s a look at the major indexes as of 9:00 am in London (4:00 am EST):

US futures were sliding, with the S&P 500 down -0.4% as was the Nasdaq falling -0.6%.
Asian stocks plummeted, with the Shanghai Composite down -1.4% and the Hang Seng down -2.5%.
Europe showed the same picture as Asia on open with the German Dax down -2.4% on open and Euro Stoxx 50 -2.4%.
Oil also showed a recovery in Asian markets after falling in the US on close. Brent Crude oil bounced +1.93% and West Texas oil was up +1.63%. Oil on Thursday took it’s worst dive since February 2016, according to the Financial Times, as Brent fell 7.2% to $60.50 a barrel.

China pledged countermeasures against the US tariffs. "If the US is going to implement the additional tariffs, China will have to take necessary countermeasures," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing in Beijing on Friday, according to Bloomberg. She did not elaborate on what they would be.

In a Tweet on Thursday, President Trump said talks of a deal would restart on September 1: "Putting a small additional Tariff of 10% on the remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods and products coming from China into our Country. This does not include the 250 Billion Dollars already Tariffed at 25%."

The S&P 500 prior to Trump’s tweet was up as much as 1.1%, however S&P 500 futures now currently stand at -0.44%, a more than 1% drop.

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