Stocks sink as US-China trade war heats up, Trump threatens action | Fox Business

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise responds to Chuck Schumer’s shutdown comments, JD Vance’s viral post and the toll of the government standoff on families and workers. A trade spat between the U.S. and China erupted Friday, sending U.S. stocks spiraling, with all three of the major averages closing sharply lower, registering the worst session since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Averagefell nearly 900 points, while the Nasdaq fell 3.5% and the S&P 500 2.7%. Still, all three of the major benchmarks touched fresh record highs earlier this week. The NYSE and Nasdaq will operate normal hours on Monday, the Columbus Day holiday, while the bond market will be closed. Dow Jones Industrial Average Sourcestell FOX Business' Edward Lawrence that President Donald Trumpis "pissed off" after a briefing about China's new announcement of export controls. Now, a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping due to take place in South Korea in two weeks, is likely to be scrapped. President Donald Trump announces a deal with Pfizer to lower Medicaid drug prices in the Oval Office of the White House Sept. 30, 2025.(Win McNamee/Getty Images / Getty Images) "I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so," he posted on Truth Social. TRUMP THREATENS CHINA WITH TARIFF CLAPBACK Trump also said he will be forced to financially counter the Chinese move. The source said large tariffs could be on the table. Friday, after the close of trading, Trump laid out hisplan in a Truth Social post. "Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the U.S.A., and not other Nations who were similarly threatened, starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying. Also on November 1st, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software" a portion of the post detailed. A majority of the large sectors in the S&P fell, led by technology, energy and consumer discretionary, while utilities and consumer staples bucked the selling. The Magnificent Seven stocks saw hefty declines, led by Amazon, Meta, Nvidia and Tesla. "This is all a game of high stakes poker going on between the US and China in this AI Revolution as we are also seeing more scrutiny in Beijing around Nvidia's golden chips," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a research note to clients. "These moments we view as buying opportunities to own the winners in semis, software, Big Tech, and the AI future as in our view these tensions will not bubble up into a much more tense time vs. the nervous period of time we saw in April." Investors did use the selloff to snap up more defensive names, including McDonald's, Coke and Pepsi. THE ETF REPORT: NEWS & ANALYSIS Gold, a flight to safety,climbed above $4,000,hitting a fresh record. The yellow metal has gained about 50% this year and is among the top performing assets classes. Silver also hit a new high of $50 on Thursday and is sitting just below that level as of midday on Friday. Gold prices hit a fresh record above $4,000 this week.(Getty Images / Getty Images) Investors were buyingexchange-traded fundsthat track the precious metals on Friday, including the SPDR Gold Trust, the largest backed by physical gold, and ProShares Ultra Silver. WEALTHY INVESTORS TAP ETFS FOR THREE HOT ASSETS Trade war woes also hit oil prices, which fell below $60 per barrel. The U.S. Brent Oil ETF and the U.S. Oil Fund were sharply lower. Energy giants Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Conoco Phillips all fell in tandem. GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE