Stocks kept sliding right into the close Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average nose-dived by more than 2,200 points and the Nasdaq careened into bear territory in the wake of China's retaliatory tariffs against those from President Donald Trump. A robust jobs report and calming words from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell failed to settle investors' nerves on the stock market today.
Futures tumbled even before China said it would initiate a 34% tariff on all imported goods from the U.S., including agricultural products. The selling continued to gain momentum after that, with the Nasdaq composite closing the day with a 5.3% loss.
Blue chips on the Dow finished the day 5.5% lower, which translates to 2,231 points. The index finished at 38,314, down 15% from its all-time high, which it hit in early December.
The Nasdaq officially entered bear market territory, as it fell nearly 23% off its December peak. Breadth was weak for the second straight session, with losers stomping winners by more than 5-to-1 on the Nasdaq composite.
The S&P 500 plummeted 6%, bringing its weekly decline to more than 9% as it closed just below the 5,100 level. Losers squashed winners on the New York Stock Exchange by roughly 11-to-1. The benchmark index was more than 17% off its all-time high, reached in February.
These S&P Stocks Start Strong, But Falter
A few consumer staple stocks outperformed early in the S&P 500, including Hershey Foods, General Mills and PepsiCo. But those stocks surrendered their gains, and each fell by at least 2% at the close.
GE Healthcare and GE Vernova also lagged badly as investors weighed the effects of tariffs on future earnings. GE Vernova lost nearly 9% while GE Healthcare plummeted 16%.
Volume was higher on the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange compared with the same time Thursday.
The Russell 2000 small-cap index also took a beating, but trimmed larger losses to 4.5%.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures crashed another 6.5% to around $62.60 a barrel, while gold futures turned lower, down more than 2% to nearly $3,060 an ounce.
3:22 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today: These Homebuilders Outperform
Several homebuilder stocks rebounded and topped the S&P 500 on news the lumber industry would be spared tariffs. The tariff exceptions to Mexico and Canada caused homebuilder stocks to rally Friday, as the majority of U.S. softwood lumber imports comes from Canada.
NVR reversed higher by more than 4% while D.R. Horton bounced 4.6% after sinking early on the stock market today.
Lennar recovered with a gain of nearly 3%, while PulteGroup bumped up 3.6%. All four stocks hit 52-week lows before reversing higher Friday.
1:58 p.m. ET
Strong Job Growth Didn't Help These Firms
Tesla, Micron Technology and Palantir Technologies lagged in the Nasdaq 100 with losses ranging from 10% to 13%.
Nvidia, meanwhile, led another sell-off in semiconductor stocks. The artificial intelligence bellwether was off lows but still fell more than 7% and sank below the 100 price level.
The economy created 228,000 jobs in March, well above Econoday estimates for 130,000. The unemployment rate ticked higher, as expected, to 4.2%, while job growth in February was revised lower by 34,000, to 117,000.
The jobs data came ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at 11:25 a.m. ET. Powell's comments included such phrases as "it feels like we don't need to be in a hurry," and "the economy is still in a good place." But that didn't seem to change the gloomy tone on the markets Friday.
Stocks On The Move: This Name Is Leading Dow Jones
Nike initially dropped Friday morning and hit a 52-week low, before rebounding 3%. The footwear stock was one of only a few rising names on the Dow Jones Friday and the increase was only a fraction of its 14.4% slide Thursday.
Nike reversed higher on reports that Vietnam leader To Lam told President Donald Trump he would cut Vietnam's tariffs down "to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the U.S."
Nike makes the majority of its shoes in Vietnam, China and Indonesia.
Lululemon Athletica saw similar action with a lift following Thursday's 9.6% drop. Lululemon also has factories in Vietnam. Both stocks are deep below their 200-day lines.
Find The Best Growth Stocks To Watch With IBD 50
12:07 p.m. ET
Dow Components Fall Hard
Several Dow Jones stocks were down at least 7%, including Boeing, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Travelers. JPMorgan kicks off first-quarter earnings season next week, with results due Friday before the open.
Inside the MarketSurge Growth 250, Vertex Pharmaceuticals outperformed early but reversed lower and is testing its 50-day moving average again.
Not that long ago, several oil and gas stocks were making a case for stock market leadership. But after a strong move off lows, TechnipFMC fell sharply for the second straight session. Shares are now down 19% for the week. Among exploration and production firms, Antero Resources slumped as well.
10:36 a.m. ET
Stock Market Today: China Stocks, Gold Take Hits
China stocks got slammed on the tariff news. Alibaba gapped below its 50-day line and was down nearly 10%. The iShares China Large Cap exchange traded fund also gapped below its 50-day line, falling 7%.
Several top-performing gold stocks fell a lot more than the shiny metal. Leaderboard name Agnico Eagle Mines fell markedly. Elsewhere, Alamos Gold waved at its 21-day exponential moving average as it tumbled below it.
Follow Ken Shreve on X @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight. And follow Kimberley Koenig for more stock market news on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @IBD_KKoenig.
