Traders work on the floor at New York Stock Exchange American at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., April 10, 2025.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
Stock futures fell Tuesday, resuming the selling seen late last week, as fears around U.S.-China trade relations continue to percolate.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 276 points, or 0.6%. S&P 500 futures shed 0.9%, and Nasdaq-100 futures slid 1.7%.
The selling was led by the AI shares that have driven the bull market, but also were the biggest losers during Friday’s rout. Nvidia and AMD each lost more than 2%. Tesla and Oracle lost about 3%.
The declines came after China and the U.S. began charging additional port fees on each others’ cargo ships, an escalation in the ongoing trade spat between the world’s largest economies. On top of that, China imposed sanctions on five of South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean’s U.S. subsidiaries.
Trade tensions have been rising since late last week, when President Donald Trump threatened to place an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports, sending stocks sharply lower. The Dow on Friday lost more than 800 points, while the S&P 500 posted its biggest one-day loss since April 10.
On Sunday, however, Trump dialed back his rhetoric, noting in a Truth Social post: “Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine.”
That comment sent stocks soaring on Monday. The S&P 500 and Dow each jumped more than 1% on the day, marking the former’s biggest one-day gain since May 27. The Dow had its best day since Sept. 11 and broke a five-day losing streak. Monday’s rebound retraced more than half of the S&P 500’s decline on Friday, and two-thirds of the Dow’s steep losses.
“Trade policy remains a key driver for US financial markets this year, and last week saw a sharp re-escalation in tensions between the US and China,” Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, global head of equities at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a note. “With hardened positions on both sides, we expect increased equity market volatility into the end of the month. However, the history of Trump-Xi negotiations suggests that escalation is often followed by tactical truces, and rare earth minerals versus shipping fees could ultimately seal a deal.”
Tuesday’s moves came despite the release of mostly solid quarterly results. J&J, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo all reported earnings that beat analyst expectations. Goldman Sachs also topped estimates.