NEW YORK – U.S. stocks slumped on Friday after President Trump wrote on Truth Social that he may scrap a planned meeting with China’s leader and is weighing a large rise in tariffs on Chinese goods.
After the closing bell, he posted again, saying the US will add a 100% tariff on China, on top of existing duties. He also said that from 1 November, the US will place export controls on all critical software.
Major indices surrendered their weekly gains, and selling accelerated late in the day. The Nasdaq composite slid 3.6%, and the Dow dropped 880 points, or 1.9%. The S&P 500 fell 2.7%, matching the Nasdaq for its steepest one-day drop since April.
By the finish, all the main benchmarks had their worst week in months, with weekly losses above 2%.
Shortly before 11 a.m., Trump claimed China had turned hostile and was sending letters to governments worldwide about export controls. He said Beijing wants to restrict every part of production tied to rare earths, and almost anything else it can name, even items not made in China.
He warned such moves would clog markets and disrupt life for most countries, China included.
Chip stocks were hit hard. AMD sank 7.7%, and Broadcom fell 5.9%. Regional banks also dropped, reflecting fears that a deeper trade conflict could weigh on growth. Elsewhere, gold climbed back toward $4,000 a troy ounce, while oil prices fell as the government shutdown reached day 10.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped more than 800 points, or 1.9%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) slid 2.7%, near session lows.
The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell about 3.6% as chipmakers and other tech names slumped.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) also sank on Friday as a broad market sell-off prompted investors to cut risk. Ether (ETH-USD) fell 6% as selling picked up across crypto. Stocks had hit record highs earlier in the week, helped by enthusiasm around AI and growing hopes for easier monetary policy, before momentum faded.
Losses sped up in the afternoon after President Trump threatened “massive” tariffs on China and said he did not need to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The world’s largest cryptocurrency slipped below $118,000, down as much as 3% during the slide.
Cocoa futures (CC=F) were off more than 1.8% by midday Friday, trading near $5,838 per tonne. If the decline holds into the close, it would mark eight straight weekly losses, the longest run since May 1999.
Chocolate makers have scaled back purchases in recent months to cut costs. The risk of oversupply through late 2025 and into 2026 has weighed on prices since mid-August.
Heavy rainfall in West Africa, the heart of global cocoa production, along with higher government farm-gate prices, has encouraged output and added further pressure on prices.
Commodity desks will look to third-quarter grinding data from the European Cocoa Association next Thursday, a key gauge of cocoa bean use, for clues on where prices go next.
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