US Stocks plunged on Friday, as investors reacted to a weak July jobs report and a fresh round of tariffs announced by President Trump. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 1.6% and 2.2%, their steepest drops since April, while the Dow lost 542 points. Payrolls rose by just 73,000 in July, far below expectations, with sharp downward revisions to prior months signalling deeper labor market weakness. Treasury yields fell and the odds of a September Fed rate cut rose above 80%. Sentiment worsened after new tariffs of 10% to 41% were imposed on imports from key partners including Canada, India, and Taiwan. On the corporate front, Amazon sank nearly 8% on disappointing cloud guidance, dragging tech lower, while Apple fell 2.9% despite strong results. Exxon (-1.8%) and Chevron (-0.1%) beat expectations, Eli Lilly (+3%) gained on drug coverage hopes, and Moderna fell 6.6% on vaccine concerns. All three major indexes posted weekly losses.
Frankfurt's DAX deepened losses to close about 2.7% down at 23,426 on Friday, hitting a five-week low and logging its worst daily drop since April 9. Markets were rattled by new tariffs unveiled by President Donald Trump overnight and a disappointing US jobs report, both of which heightened concerns about inflation and the economic outlook. Tariffs ranging from 15% to 40% will take effect Thursday under new deals covering roughly 70 countries, including the European Union, which agreed to a 15% increase in base rates with the United States. On the corporate front, all sectors saw losses. Among individual stocks, Daimler Truck plunged over 8% after the company cut its full-year outlook late on Thursday, citing persisting market weakness in North America. Other notable decliners included Siemens, Heidelberg Materials, Porsche AG, Siemens Energy, Airbus, Allianz and Volkswagen, with losses ranging between 5.3% and 3.2%. For the week, the DAX shed about 3.3%.
The CAC 40 plunged 2.9% to 7,546 on Friday, extending its weekly loss to a steep 4.1% and marking a one-month low, as sweeping new US tariffs and lacklustre earnings rattled investors. President Trump’s executive order introduced a 10% global baseline tariff, punitive duties of up to 41% on countries lacking trade deals, and a 40% levy on goods suspected of circumventing tariffs. While Europe avoided the harshest measures through a last-minute agreement, it now faces a 15% tariff on exports to the US. On the corporate front, Teleperformance plummeted 20.7% after cutting its 2025 growth forecast following weak Q2 results. Axa dropped 7.9% on disappointing H1 profits, Saint-Gobain lost 9.3% after narrowly missing sales expectations, and Schneider Electric extended losses by 6.3% despite record H1 revenue, as warnings of margin pressure and a steep decline in free cash flow overshadowed the results.
