Stock markets continue to plunge after China announces new tariffs on US goods

Stocks and oil extended their losses Friday after China responded to tariffs announced by Donald Trump with new levies on US imports, fueling fears of an all-out trade war.

Meanwhile, President Trump argued that China had "panicked" and was wrong to announce 34% tariffs on all US goods starting next Thursday.

The harsher-than-expected tariffs announced by Trump rattled stock markets Thursday, with Wall Street posting its worst losses since the early days of the covid-19 pandemic.

Wall Street opened lower Friday, with the Dow Jones down 2.34%, the Nasdaq retreating 3.14% and the S&P 500 posting losses of 3.39%.

The dollar managed to regain ground on Friday after Thursday's sharp drop due to fears of a recession in the United States.

In Asia, investors continued to sell their shares en masse. Tokyo closed with a 2.75% drop and the losses were very marked in the quotations of automakers: Toyota fell 4%, Nissan and Honda suffered a plunge of more than 5%.

The downward trend was also felt in Seoul, which fell 0.86%, and in Sydney, where the stock market gave up 2.44%. Chinese stock exchanges were closed due to the public holiday.

Debacle in European stock markets

In Europe, after heavy losses the day before, the announcement that China will impose additional tariffs of 34% on US goods shook markets hard.

Paris' CAC 40 posted its worst day since March 2022 and gave up 4.26% at the close, Frankfurt and London fell 4.95%. In Madrid, the Ibex 35 closed with losses of 5.83% and Milan retreated 6.53%.

During trading, this marker briefly dipped to $64.03 per barrel, a low since April 2021.

Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for May delivery, the US benchmark, slipped 7.80% to $61.73.

Another commodity that fell sharply was copper, which plummeted more than 5%. This metal is vital for energy storage, as well as the manufacturing of electric vehicles and wind turbines.