U.S. Stock Futures Slide on New Trump China Threat: Markets Wrap

U.S. stock futures slid and the yen jumped after President Donald Trump ordered his administration to consider tariffs on an additional $100 billion worth of Chinese imports.

The news may ripple through Asian markets, which had earlier been poised to extend gains recorded during the U.S. trading session on Thursday on optimism that the U.S. and China would negotiate over differences on trade matters. Futures on the S&P 500 Index were down about 1 percent early in the Asian trading day Friday, while the yen -- as ever a haven in times of uncertainty -- climbed 0.2 percent against the dollar. Ten-year Treasury yields on Thursday had popped above 2.83 percent ahead of today’s payroll numbers.

Risk appetite had been returning before the news that hit late Thursday in Washington, with the S&P 500 climbing for a third day.

Elsewhere, oil’s rally waned amid signs of further swelling stockpiles at the most important U.S. storage complex. Gold steadied.
Terminal users can read more in our markets live blog.

Here are some key events for the remainder of this week:

• On Friday, America publishes non-farm payrolls and an employment report; the jobless rate was forecast to have fallen in March after holding at 4.1 percent for five straight months.

And these are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• Futures on the S&P 500 fell 1 percent after the underlying gauge rose 0.7 percent Thursday.

• Contracts on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average were also down 1 percent.

Currencies

• The euro was flat $1.2243.

• The yen was at 107.18 per dollar, up 0.2 percent Friday.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed three basis points to 2.83 percent Thursday.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude was flat at $63.49 a barrel.

• Gold gained 0.2 percent to $1,329.07 an ounce.