04:40 PM EDT, 10/10/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes fell this week after President Donald Trump's warning of a "massive" increase in tariffs on China unnerved investors, and the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes failed to boost risk sentiment ahead of the Q3 earnings season.

* The S&P 500 closed at 6,552.51 on Friday, versus 6,715.79 a week ago. The Nasdaq Composite stood at 22,204.43, compared with 22,780.51 a week earlier, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 45,479.60, versus 46,758.28 at the end of last week.

* "One of the policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America," Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday. China is "becoming very hostile, and sending letters to countries throughout the world, that they want to impose export controls on each and every element of production having to do with rare earths."

* "I was to meet [China's] President Xi [Jinping] in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so," Trump said. "

* Fed Chair Jerome Powell offered no further insights on policy in a recorded address to a conference in Washington on Thursday, a day after Fed minutes showed division among policymakers on the path and pace of rate cuts, even though most rate-setters were open to additional policy easing.

* Strong gains in semiconductors, software, and other companies associated with artificial intelligence helped technology and communication services sectors outperform several peers this week, riding the so-called bullish AI wave. Ahead of Q3 earnings, a slam-dunk Fed would have cheered Big-Tech bulls.

* Meanwhile, the partial shutdown of the US federal government entered its 10th day as funding bills from Democrats and Republicans reportedly failed in the Senate for the seventh time. No further votes are expected until Tuesday, extending the stalemate into next week, CBS NEWS reported.