LIVE MARKETS-US stocks suffer worst week since the pandemic panic

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U.S. STOCKS SUFFER WORST WEEK SINCE PANDEMIC PANIC

The main U.S. indexes posted their biggest weekly drops since March 2020 in a torrid week for stocks after U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled larger than expected country tariffs, prompting retaliatory levies by China on Friday and raising concerns over global growth.

“The follow through with today’s big push down is truly a lack of buyers. Folks have moved to the sidelines to see how the initial negotiations / retaliation goes – and don’t know how to assess how far down is “enough,” said Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth.

“No one wants to increase long positions going into this weekend with more tariffs kicking in and the potential for more headlines over the weekend,” she added.

The Nasdaq .IXIC was down 10% on the week, the S&P 500 .SPX fell 9.1%, and the Dow .DJI ended down 7.9%.

The Dow is now down 14.9% from its record close, the S&P 500 has fallen 17.4% from its record close. The Nasdaq has now confirmed a bear market since its December 16 record close with a 22.7% collapse.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday had few near-term answers on how the tariffs will impact monetary policy, saying that “we face a highly uncertain outlook with elevated risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation.”

Data earlier on Friday showed that the U.S. economy added 228,000 jobs in March, far more jobs than expected, though the unemployment rate also crept up to 4.2%, from 4.1%.

The Fed is likely to want to see evidence of clear weakening in the labor market before resuming rate cuts. Fed funds futures traders are currently pricing in 100 basis points of cuts by year-end, with the first expected in June.

Consumer and producer price inflation data for March will be a key economic focus next week. For the most part, however, traders will be watching for any signs that Trump will soften his stance on tariffs through negotiations or other means.

Here is Friday’s closing market snapshot:

(Karen Brettell, Carolina Mandl, Terence Gabriel)

FOR FRIDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:

SOARING CDS VOLUMES SUGGEST MORE HEDGING THAN SELLING - CLICK HERE

CHIP INDEX PLUNGES 40% FROM INTRADAY RECORD - CLICK HERE

U.S. STOCKS PARE LOSSES; POWELL EMPHASIZES ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY - CLICK HERE

OH, WAS PAYROLLS THIS MORNING? A JOBS REPORT DEEP DIVE - CLICK HERE

MOST PESSIMISM SINCE FINANCIAL CRISIS BEAR WAS ENDING - AAII - CLICK HERE

U.S. STOCK FUTURES RATTLED AFTER CHINA RETALIATORY TARIFFS, PAYROLL DATA - CLICK HERE

DON'T FORGET ABOUT PAYROLLS - CLICK HERE

BANKS LEAD EUROPEAN SHARES LOWER, STOXX SET FOR BIGGEST WEEKLY FALL IN THREE YEARS - CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: FUTURES EDGE DOWN AFTER THURSDAY'S SHARP SELL-OFF - CLICK HERE

WALL STREET HAS MOST TO LOSE FROM TRUST LOST - CLICK HERE