Stocks Sell Off, Gold Rallies On Tariff Turmoil, Weak Jobs Data: What's Moving Markets Friday?

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

Major Indices	Price	1-day %chg
Dow Jones	43,708.38	-1.1%
S&P 500	6,265.71	-1.2%
Nasdaq 100	22,916.13	-1.3%
Russell 2000	2,176.75	-1.6%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) dropped 1.2% at $573.85.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) fell 1% to $436.78.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) sank 1.4% to $557.14.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) slipped 1.5% to $216.24.
• The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) outperformed, up 0.8%; the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) lagged, down 1.8%.

Friday’s Stock Movers

Major companies reacting to earnings reports included:

• Apple Inc. down 2.3%
• Amazon.com, Inc. down 7.7%
• Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) down 2.1%
• Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) down 0.3%
• Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) up 0.0%
• Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) down 2.8%
• MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) up 0.6%
• KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) up 1.5%
• Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) down 15.0%
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) down 1.7%
• Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) down 0.8%
• Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) down 2.8%
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) up 0.2%
• Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D) up 3.6%

Best gainers on earnings:

• Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR) up 12.3%
• First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) up 6.9%
• Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) up 6.7%
• Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) up 4.3%

Major laggards on earnings:

• Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) down 20.5%
• Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) down 13.5%
• Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR) down 11.1%
• Mirion Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:MIR) down 10.5%

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

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