U.S. stock futures declined on Friday following President Donald Trump’s announcement of new tariffs targeting Canadian imports, sparking fears that other trade partners could soon face similar measures, which added pressure on global trade sentiment. At the same time, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) achieved a historic market valuation exceeding $4 trillion, while Bitcoin climbed to unprecedented levels.
Trump announces 35% tariff on Canadian goods
In a move that escalates the ongoing trade tensions, President Trump declared late Thursday that the U.S. will impose a 35% tariff on imports from Canada starting August 1. He also indicated plans to apply broad tariffs between 15% and 20% on many other countries.
Trump shared the decision in a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on social media. This new tariff represents a significant hike from the existing 25%, though exemptions remain for products covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade pact. Energy and fertilizer imports are expected to maintain their current 10% tariff rates.
Recently, Trump has widened his trade actions, adding tariffs on countries like Japan and South Korea and slapping a 50% duty on copper imports.
U.S. futures pull back amid trade jitters
Following the tariff announcement, futures for major U.S. indexes eased on Friday, retreating from record highs amid concerns about the impact on global economic growth. As of 03:20 ET (07:20 GMT), S&P 500 futures dropped 0.4%, Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.2%, and Dow futures slipped 0.5%.
Despite strong gains and record closes on Thursday, market sentiment cooled as investors digested the potential disruption from the new tariffs on Canadian goods set to take effect next month.
Attention is also on the European Union, which is working to finalize trade agreements before the August 1 deadline.
Nvidia crosses $4 trillion valuation milestone
Nvidia made history on Thursday by becoming the first company to reach a market capitalization above $4 trillion. The stock closed at $4.004 trillion, up nearly 90% from its April lows.
The milestone reflects the surge in demand for AI technology, which is central to Nvidia’s business growth. CEO Jensen Huang told MSNBC’s Morning Joe, “We are reinventing computing as fundamentally as when modern computers were first developed in the 1960s. The last few years have truly accelerated that revolution.”
Bitcoin reaches new all-time highs
Bitcoin pushed above $118,000 on Friday, driven by strong institutional demand and favorable regulatory moves in the U.S. At 03:20 ET, the cryptocurrency was up 5.6% at $117,670, having touched $118,320 earlier in the day.
Institutional investors are increasingly allocating bitcoin into treasury portfolios and ETFs, with U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs seeing $1.18 billion in net inflows through Thursday. Trading volumes for 12 bitcoin ETFs totaled $6.3 billion, the highest daily figure since late May.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration’s approval of a strategic Bitcoin reserve helped boost regulatory confidence. In addition, a recent Chinese regulatory meeting signaled a possible softening stance on digital currencies.
Oil prices edge higher amid Russia sanctions talk
Oil prices gained on Friday amid speculation that the U.S. may impose further sanctions on Russia. Gains were tempered by tariff concerns and increased OPEC+ production.
At 03:20 ET, Brent crude futures rose 0.4% to $68.94 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures increased 0.6% to $66.96 a barrel.
Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday after tariff worries rattled investors. However, sentiment improved after Trump expressed frustration with Russia over stalled Ukraine peace talks, hinting at potential new sanctions on the world’s third-largest oil producer.
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