US: Wall St sell-off sparked by Trump tariffs, Amazon results, weak payrolls

[NEW YORK] Wall Street’s main indexes declined sharply on Friday (Aug 1) as new US tariffs on dozens of trading partners and Amazon’s unimpressive earnings weighed on sentiment, while a weaker payrolls report added to risk aversion.

Hours ahead of the tariff deadline, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing duties on US imports from countries including Canada, Brazil, India and Taiwan.

Data showed US job growth slowed more than expected in July while the prior month’s data was revised sharply lower, pointing to a sharp moderation in the labour market.

“This was a pretty disappointing report … markets are getting a little bit more worried about the state of the labour market in the aftermath of today’s report,” said BeiChen Lin, senior investment strategist at Russell Investments.

Following the data, traders have raised their bets for a September interest rate cut to 81.9 per cent, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

At 9:52 am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 633.77 points, or 1.44 per cent, to 43,491.55, the S&P 500 lost 107.59 points, or 1.70 per cent, to 6,231.80 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 483.70 points, or 2.29 per cent, to 20,638.74.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell to a more than two-month low each, while the Dow slipped to an over one-month low.

The CBOE Volatility index, also known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, jumped to a near six-week high and was last up 20.66 points.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes declined, led by consumer discretionary, which was down 3.4 per cent as

Amazon slid 6.7 per cent. The company’s growth in its cloud computing unit failed to impress investors, in contrast to robust gains reported by AI-focused rivals Alphabet and Microsoft.

Technology and communication services indexes fell 1.9 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively.

Apple posted its current-quarter revenue forecast well above Wall Street estimates, but CEO Tim Cook warned US tariffs would add USUS$1.1 billion in costs over the period. The stock edged 0.2 per cent lower.

Most major megacap stocks fell, with Nvidia down 3.1 per cent, Tesla falling 2.6 per cent, Meta Platforms down 2.5 per cent, and Alphabet losing 1.4 per cent.

Financials fell 2.2 per cent, with Coinbase Global falling 16.2 per cent after the crypto exchange reported a drop in adjusted profit for the second quarter.

Industrial tools supplier WW Grainger dropped 9.2 per cent after slashing its forecast for annual profit.

Trump said on Friday the Federal Reserve’s board should assume control if the central bank’s chair, Jerome Powell, continues to refuse to lower interest rates.

Powell, despite pressure from Trump to cut rates, has indicated the central bank was in no rush to do so.

The day’s sharp losses put the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on track for weekly losses, offsetting the week’s earlier gains on signs of economic resilience, AI boost, and key US trade agreements with top partners such as the European Union and South Korea.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.93-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 4.43-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted six new 52-week highs and 18 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded eight new highs and 131 new lows. REUTERS