Stock futures fall after Trump threatens $100b in tariffs on Chinese goods

What's Walmart going to do now :-)

President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods, which sent stock futures tumbling after a day that saw stocks rise for a third day.

Dow Jones futures were down triple digits, or 0.86%. The S&P 500 was lower by 0.77% and the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.84%.

The move by Trump comes one day after China imposed $50 billion in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products.

Stocks had rebounded since then, as trade tensions seemed to ease as the threats were seen more as a way to begin negotiations.

Trump added that he’s instructed the Agriculture Department to explore protections for U.S. farmers in light of China’s recent measures.

China’s commerce ministry warned it would fight back "at any cost" with fresh measures to safeguard its interests if the United States sticks to its protectionist actions.

Chinese equity markets remained closed for a holiday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed up 1.1%, after beginning the session higher as the market caught up following Thursday’s holiday.

Japan’s Nikkei ended the day down 0.4%, and up half a percent for the week.

European markets opened lower.

Germany’s DAX was lower by 0.83%, France’s CAC was down 0.57% and London’s FTSE was off 0.21%.

Before Trump’s announcement. the story that traders and investors thought would be the main topic, would be the monthly jobs report that will be released Friday morning.

The U.S. economy is expected to have added 193,000 new nonfarm jobs last month in the closely watched report, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

The unemployment rate is expected to fall one-tenth of a percentage point to 4%.

In the Thursday trading session, the Dow increased by 240.92 points, or 1%, to 24,505.22 at the close of the regular trading session. The S&P 500 rose by 18.15, or 0.7%, to 2,662.84 while the Nasdaq climbed by 34.44, or 0.5%, to 7,076.55.

Oil prices fell after Trump’s threat was announced. U.S. crude was down 0.55% to $63.19 a barrel.