Tariff pain spreads

After weeks of volatile trading and a blizzard of tariff threats and countermeasures, businesses and investors face one big question: Will a brewing trade war sink global growth?

Consider that the S&P 500 has cratered from a record last month into correction territory as President Trump’s protectionist policies continue to stoke uncertainty. The 10.1 percent fall since Feb. 19 is the seventh-fastestcollapse into a correction since 1929, Bloomberg notes, and comes as voters begin to sour on Trump’s handling of the economy and C.E.O.s express alarm.

That puts added attention on Friday’s consumer sentiment survey, due from the University of Michigan at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Investors got a reprieve last night, with enough Senate Democrats appearing ready to back a government funding bill to avoid a federal shutdown. Stock futures were up on Friday.

But gold, a classic haven, rose above $3,000 an ounce, a record.

For now, the administration isn’t backing down. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that Trump’s trade policies would yield long-term growth gains: “I’m not concerned about a little bit of volatility over three weeks,” he told CNBC.

Steven Mnuchin, who was Treasury secretary during Trump’s first term, also played down recession concerns and urged investors not to “overreact.”