📉 Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Suffer Severe Losses

📉 Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Suffer Severe Losses

August 1, 2025 | New York City — U.S. equities plunged across the board today as investors reacted to underwhelming employment data and renewed trade tensions driven by President Trump’s tariff rollout. The Dow Jones fell ~1.3%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.5%, and the Nasdaq lost nearly 2.4%—a sharp reversal following recent gains The Times+15Reuters+15The Wall Street Journal+15.

🔍 Key Drivers Behind the Sell-Off

Weak Jobs Report

• U.S. employers added just 73,000 nonfarm jobs in July—well below the 110,000 economists expected.

• May and June jobs were sharply revised downward by 258,000 combined, and the unemployment rate edged up to 4.2% Reuters+7The Washington Post+7The Guardian+7.

• These revisions triggered a surge in odds for a September Federal Reserve rate cut, rising from ~40% to over 80% in CME’s FedWatch data AP News+3Reuters+3AP News+3.

Trump’s Tariff Redux

• President Trump signed an executive order imposing reciprocal tariffs (10–41%) on major trade partners, including Canada (35%), India (25%), Taiwan (20%), and Brazil (50%) The Wall Street Journal+3The Guardian+3The Economic Times+3.

• The tariff escalation cast doubt over global trade stability and stoked fears of inflation and supply chain disruption en.wikipedia.org+13The Times+13The Economic Times+13.

🧾 Market & Sector Highlights

• Technology stocks, especially Amazon and Nvidia, sank sharply—Amazon dropped nearly 9% due to weak cloud guidance Reuters+4Reuters+4The Economic Times+4.

• Apple shares fell ~2%, with CFO warning tariffs could cost the company more than $1.1 billion next quarter Seeking Alpha+2Reuters+2en.wikipedia.org+2Reuters.

• Among bright spots, Reddit soared ~22% on the back of strong earnings and AI-related ad growth; homebuildersalso gained on lower yields and rate cut speculation The Economic Times+3Investopedia+3Reuters+3.

• Market volatility spiked—VIX climbed nearly 28%, hitting a six-week high, and yields fell: the 10-year Treasury yield dropped to 4.2%, the 2-year yield to 3.7% AP News.

🧭 Broader Implications

• Recession fears escalate: The weak labor market and aggressive tariffs combine to create concern about slowing growth The GuardianThe Times.

• Fed policy in focus: A rate cut path appears more likely—but inflation driven by tariffs could complicate decisions.

• Trade policy uncertainty: Savvy investors warn that sudden changes and retaliatory threats may disrupt planning and investor confidence.

Today’s sharp equity losses reflect converging pressures: lackluster jobs numbers undermining growth assumptions and aggressive trade moves rattling global markets. Markets appear to be rapidly repricing expectations for interest rates and domestic economic resilience. Whether this volatility continues depends heavily on forthcoming economic data, corporate earnings trends, and how trade negotiations evolve in the coming weeks.