Dow dips 500 points amid weak jobs data, trade war jitters

U.S. stocks shed gains on Friday, with renewed trade war jitters and weak jobs data spooking investors and sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 500 points.

Summary

• Stocks fell as investors reacted to latest jobs data report.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 500 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped 1.2% and 1.5% respectively.
• Trade war fears also allowed bears to take advantage.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 500 points, while the S&P 500 shed 1.2% and the Nasdaq gave up 1.5%, extending losses from Thursday, July 31, 2025.

Wall Street showed signs of weakness as President Donald Trump’s deadline for countries to finalize trade deals with the U.S. approached, with broad market reaction pushing major indexes lower ahead of Friday’s release of the monthly jobs report.

The Dow closed in the red in the previous session, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped from near-record levels as Amazon’s (AMZN) earnings disappointed, driven by underperformance in its cloud unit, AWS. With Amazon failing to impress as Google and Microsoft did, AMZN shares plummeted. 

As a result, Apple (AAPL) stock’s gains following the iPhone maker’s earnings beat failed to buoy the broader market.

Weak U.S. jobs data 

Stocks were also down as the data showed the U.S. added just 73,000 jobs in July, below the expected 104,000. The lower-than-anticipated nonfarm payroll growth and a rise in the unemployment rate from 4.1% to 4.2% left investors concerned.

Market analysts say the weak jobs report could prompt action from the Federal Reserve. The central bank’s next meeting is in September, and investors are increasingly optimistic the Fed will announce a rate cut at that time.

Recent decisions, coupled with other economic data releases have buoyed the dollar index and contributed to the slowdown in risk assets. Bitcoin (BTC) was down 2% as it revisited levels below $115k.

Stocks retreat amid fresh tariffs jitters

Trump’s deadline for trade deals saw fresh uncertainty hit the market as the U.S. imposed tariffs on its top trading partners, including Canada and India. 

An executive order signed Thursday imposed a 35% tariff on Canadian goods, while India faces a 25% rate as negotiations with the U.S. appear to have stalled. Meanwhile, Switzerland was hit with a 39% tariff, surprising the export-driven European nation.

However, trade war fears may be somewhat tempered by a seven-day delay in the effective date of the new levies. Markets view the delay as an opportunity for further negotiations.