Wall Street’s worst crisis since COVID slammed into a higher gear Friday.
The S&P 500 lost 6% after China matched President Donald Trump’s big raise in tariffs announced earlier this week. The move increased the stakes in a trade war that could end with a recession that hurts everyone. Not even a better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market, which is usually the economic highlight of each month, was enough to stop the slide.
The drop closed the worst week for the S&P 500 since March 2020, when the pandemic ripped through the global economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 2,231 points, or 5.5% and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 5.8% to pull more than 20% below its record set in December.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 1,142.30 points, or 4.7%, at 23,193.47 — more than 6% off from last week’s close. It was led by losses in base metal and energy stocks, as the price of oil …