12:34 PM EDT, 04/03/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes plunged, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 1,300 points and the Nasdaq Composite sinking by over 840 points amid concern that the Trump administration's tariff hike will spark a global trade war and slash economic growth.

The Nasdaq slumped 4.8% to 16,743.1, with the S&P 500 down 3.8% to 5,458.2 and the Dow 3.2% lower at 40,865.3 after midday Thursday. All sectors except consumer staples and utilities were down intraday. Consumer discretionary, technology, and energy dropped more than 5% each, making them the steepest decliners.

Canada, China, and Europe are pondering their response to the punitive import duties President Donald Trump announced late on Wednesday.

"Trump has imposed the steepest and harshest American tariffs in a century on all its major counterparts, sparking threats of retaliation and a broad selloff around the world on concerns that a global trade war on this scale and magnitude will drive an economic slowdown," Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said in a note.

The ICE US Dollar Index retreated 1.8% to 101.9.

Almost all US Treasury yields dropped intraday, with the 10-year yield sliding 15 basis points to 4.05% and the two-year rate 17.7 basis points lower at 3.73%.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management's US services index fell to 50.8 in March from 53.5 in February, compared with expectations for 52.9 in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

In company news, Lamb Weston ( LW ) posted better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results on Thursday as volume gains helped offset lower prices, while the company reiterated its full-year outlook. Shares jumped past 10% intraday, the top performer on the S&P 500.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures plunged 7.8% to $66.14 a barrel.