It's a rough start to the new month for Wall Street, as major U.S. stock indices plunged by midday Friday, setting the stage for a negative weekly close.

• SPY ETF is breaking past support. Check the chart here.

Trade war concerns resurfaced after President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on countries without a formal trade agreement with the U.S. Key levies include 25% on imports from India, 39% from Switzerland, 20% from Taiwan, 30% from South Africa, 35% on Canadian goods, and a staggering 50% on Brazilian exports.

Risk sentiment soured further following a surprisingly weak jobs report.

While July payrolls rose by 73,000—well below the 110,000 expected—revisions to prior months shocked markets: May and June payrolls were slashed by a combined 258,000 — the largest downward revision since 2020 — pointing to deeper cracks in the labor market than previously thought.

The S&P 500 dropped 1.2% to 6,260, the Nasdaq 100 slid 1.3% to 22,900, and the Dow Jones shed nearly 500 points, or 1.1%.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) spiked 18%, marking its biggest one-day jump since April 10.

Expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in September surged. Fed funds futures now imply nearly an 80% chance of a 25-basis-point cut, just two days after the Central Bank left rates unchanged and offered no clear signal for easing next month.

The two-year U.S. Treasury yield tumbled around 20 basis points to 3.75%, posting its largest intraday drop in over a year.

Tech Earnings Mixed, Gold Rallies On Haven Demand

Economic concerns overshadowed corporate earnings. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) beat expectations thanks to a rebound in iPhone sales in China, but Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) tanked nearly 8% after issuing soft guidance, in its worst day since April 3.

Even Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft Corp. (NYSE:MSFT), which had surged the day before on strong earnings, experienced sharp pullbacks.

The so-called "Magnificent Seven" tech giants collectively lost around $500 billion in market capitalization in a single session, falling to $18.7 trillion after hitting a record $19.4 trillion just a day earlier.

Gold emerged as the day's top-performing asset, jumping 1.8% to $3,450 per ounce, as investors sought safety amid tariff tensions and growing Fed rate cut bets. Silver followed with a more modest gain of 0.5% to $36.89.

The U.S. dollar snapped a six-day winning streak, with the DXY index dropping 1.1%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) held steady near $115,000.

Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro data:

Friday’s Stock Movers

Major companies reacting to earnings reports included:

Best gainers on earnings:

Major laggards on earnings:

Read now: Economists Flip To Trump’s Side After Jobs Data–And Jerome Powell Is Now In Trouble

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