The global rout in stock markets continued on Friday as worries deepened about a trade war, after China retaliated against President Trump’s sweeping tariffs with steep levies of its own on U.S. goods.
The S&P 500 fell 2.5 percent on in early trading Friday. The benchmark U.S. index on Thursday posted its worst daily loss since 2020, plunging 4.8 percent.
Losses were widespread, hitting technology companies as well as firms that rely on Chinese manufacturing in their supply chains. Apple shares dropped about 4 percent. Shares in retailer Nike and Caterpillar, which makes construction equipment, fell about 5 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index fell nearly 3 percent.
European and Asian indexes also tumbled for a second day as investors weighed the economic effects of Mr. Trump’s tariffs, the dominant concern in markets. The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped more than 3 percent, erasing its gains for the year. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 2.8 percent, matching its drop from the day before.
The Chinese government said on Friday that it would match Mr. Trump’s plan for 34 percent tariffs on goods from China with its own 34 percent tariff on imports from the United States. It also added 11 American companies to its list of “unreliable entities,” essentially barring them from doing business in China or with Chinese companies.
