US pre-open: Futures sharply lower as tariff-fuelled selloff continues
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Friday 04 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were firmly in the red ahead of the bell on Friday as Donald Trump's tariff-driven market rout looked set to continue for another day.
As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 2.69%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 2.72% and 2.90%, respectively.
The Dow closed a whopping 1,679.39 points lower on Friday as the White House's sweeping tariff measures weighed heavily on markets.
Futures were pointing to yet another day of heavy losses after China hit back at the US with a 34% levy on all American-made products, matching tariffs imposed on Chinese goods coming into the States.
AJ Bell's Russ Mould said: "With markets having suffered their worst week in five years, investors were hiding under their duvet on Friday hoping the pain would go away. Unfortunately, the relentless selling continued, with markets falling across Asia and Europe and futures prices implying the US will do the same when trading begins later on.
"There are so many moving parts that getting your head around the situation isn't easy. With countless sectors set to be hit by tariffs, it's difficult to know where to begin to comprehend the situation. Investors looking to buy on the dip were spoiled for choice given the sharp declines seen on the market this week. It's now a question of when investors feel brave enough to go shopping. Today's extended sell-off implies investors are still too nervous to take the plunge."
Also of note, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell below 4% to 3.874% as market participants moved aggressively into. JPMorgan also raised the odds of the US economy falling into recession in 2025 to 60% from 40%.
On the macro front, March's nonfarm payrolls report will be published at 1330 BST, while Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell will deliver a speech at 1625 GMT.
In the corporate space, multinationals with large exposure to China, such as Apple, Tesla, Caterpillar and Nvidia, all traded lower in pre-market trading, as did major banking names like Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase on the back of recessionary fears.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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