At the close, the Dow Jones industrial index had fallen 5.5 percent, the broad S&P 500 index 6 percent, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index 5.8 percent.
Earlier in the day, China clarified that an additional 34 percent in tariffs would be imposed on goods from the USA, in response to Trump's new American tariffs.
Thereafter, the major technology companies and other companies with production in Asia had another tough day, just like on Thursday.
The stock market fall was reinforced by the fact that all the very index-heavy technology companies, known as "The magnificent seven", plummeted really badly.
Government Bonds and Oil
iPhone manufacturer Apple, which manufactures a large part of its US-sold products in China, lost 7.3 percent – after having fallen 9.3 percent on Thursday.
Electric car manufacturer Tesla sank 10.4 percent.
Google owner Alphabet, IT trading giant Amazon, Facebook owner Meta, software company Microsoft, and semiconductor company Nvidia fell between 3.4 and 7.4 percent.
The yields on American government bonds, regardless of maturity, fell significantly, as did the global market price of oil.
One of the few pieces of good news was that the number of employed persons outside the agricultural sector in the USA increased by 228,000 people in March, far more than the expected 140,000 new jobs.
Sea of Uncertainty
But it was drowned out in a sea of uncertainty. For example, Jerome Powell, head of the central bank (Fed), signaled that the trade war would likely lead to higher inflation and lower GDP growth.
Emily Bowersock Hill, at analysis firm Bowersock Capital Partners, wonders if even rapid interest rate cuts by the Fed can now stop the bleeding.
While investors hope that the Fed will come to the rescue, it is unclear whether any potential interest rate cuts this year will heal the economic damage that these tariffs are likely to cause, she says to news agency Bloomberg.
A very gloomy week is over on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial index plummeted 7.9 percent, the S&P 500 index 9.1 percent, and the Nasdaq composite index 10 percent during the trading week in total.
