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Stock Market News for Apr 7, 2025

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Wall Street closed sharply lower on Friday in a broad-based slump. Trump tariff wars continued to weigh heavily on global markets. Stocks exposed to China witnessed a bloodbath. All of the three most widely followed indexes closed the session in the red.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) tanked 5.5%, or 2,231.07 points, to close at 38,314.86. Twenty nine components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory, while one ended in positive.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 962.82 points, or 5.8%, to close at 15,587.79.

The S&P 500 plummeted 322.44 points, or 6%, to close at 5,074.08. All of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in the red. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE), the Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) and the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) lost 9.2%, 7.3% and 6.6%, respectively.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) increased 50.93% to 45.31. A record-breaking 26.79 billion shares were traded on Friday, beating the previous high of 24.48 billion shares traded on Jan. 27, 2021.

Trump Tariffs Continue to Wreak Havoc

On Friday, the stock market took a nosedive for the second straight day, alongside confirming that the Nasdaq Composite was in a bear market and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was in correction territory. President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements have set the cat among the pigeons, and the global economy is reeling under the threat of a recession. The United States is faring no better, with trillions of dollars being wiped out in Wall Street since Wednesday.

China has announced that it will impose additional tariffs of 34% on all U.S. goods from April 10, as a retaliatory move. Market participants have been expecting some respite from the Federal Reserve in recent days, especially after President Trump pressured Fed Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates in the recent session. However, all such expectations went for a toss on Friday as Powell spoke publicly for the first time since Trump's tariff announcement. Contrary to what the markets and the government wanted to hear, he highlighted that the unexpectedly large tariffs could trigger higher inflation and slow down growth.

Tech and discretionary stocks, as well as energy stocks, have been bearing most of the brunt in recent days. With the tariff war with China peaking currently, stocks exposed to the Asian giant felt the heat of Friday. Consequently, shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) slid 7.3% and 7.4%, respectively. NVDA currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Oil Prices Plummet on U.S.-China Tension

On Friday, oil prices plunged more than 7% to a three-year low, with escalating trade tensions between the United States and China stoking fears of a global recession. Brent crude settled $4.56, or 6.5%, lower at $65.58/barrel, while WTI crude lost $4.96, or 7.4%, to end at $61.99.

Weekly Roundup

For the week, the stock market bloodbath continued with the S&P 500 plunging 9.1%, the Dow declining 7.9%, and the Nasdaq slumping 10% on the global havoc created by the Trump tariffs.

Economic Data

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 228,000 in March, rising significantly over the downwardly revised 117,000 reported in February. The unemployment rate changed little at 4.2%. The average workweek remained unchanged at 34.2, and average hourly earnings increased 0.3% in March after rising 0.2% in February.


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