Stocks declined Friday after President Donald Trump raised trade fears again, warning Apple  and recommending stiffer duties on the European Union.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 256.02 points, or 0.61%, to end at 41,603.07. The S&P 500 shed 0.67% and closed at 5,802.82, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1% and settled at 18,737.21.

Apple shares fell 3% after Trump posted on Truth Social that iPhones sold in the U.S. must be made in the U.S. and if they are not "a tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple." The move against Apple by Trump is the first against a specific company in his tariff rollout this year.

The president also said trade discussions with the EU "are going nowhere" and recommended "a straight 50% tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025."

Stocks came off their lows of the day after CNBC's Eamon Javers reported the White House did not interpret Trump's remarks as a formal statement of policy.

Trump's actions come at a time when tariff tensions were easing. Trump in April implemented duties on most nations in the world, which rattled the stock market and nearly put the S&P 500 in a bear market. The president then paused the stiffest tariffs for 90 days and hatched some preliminary agreements with the U.K. and China, causing stocks to recover. The S&P 500 got back to even on the year last week, but was back in negative territory at the end of Friday's trading.

Investors were buying stocks on speculation that more agreements would be rolling out with various nations during this three-month pause. Friday's actions by Trump could mean that hope was misplaced.

"We've had this de-escalation tailwind at the market's back for like six weeks now — and the market has had one of its best six-week stretches in the last 75 years — and a re-escalation of trade war rhetoric threatens that. I don't think we'll retest the lows or anything like that, unless it really ramps up, but this is certainly a step in the wrong direction from the market's perspective," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird, in an interview with CNBC.

Elsewhere, shares of United States Steel surged 21% after Trump said on Truth Social that the company would form a "partnership" with Nippon Steel. Earlier this year, the Japanese company's bid to buy its U.S. rival had been blocked.

Friday's declines added to the market's weekly losses. The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq all lost more than 2% on the week.

Looking ahead, Rick Wedell, the president and chief investment officer at RFG Advisory warned that this "roller coaster ride" of de-escalating and re-escalating tariff tensions is likely to be a permanent fixture of Trump's second term.

"It is very important for investors to understand that this lingering trade issue is likely to be here for, I think, the duration of this administration. I don't think they are going to look the other way on trade at any point. I think they think of this as a defining characteristic of the administration's legacy is fixing the international trade deals," he said. "I would just encourage investors to never get lulled into a false sense either way."

Stocks close lower after Trump ramps up trade tensions

Stocks closed on Friday in the red.

The S&P 500 shed 0.67%, finishing at 5,802.82, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.61% to settle at 41,603.07. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1% to close at 18,737.21.

— Lisa Kailai Han

U.S. Steel surges 21% after Trump greenlights Nippon merger

Shares of U.S. Steel surged 21% on Friday after President Donald Trump greenlighted its merger with Japan's Nippon Steel.

"This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy. The bulk of that Investment will occur in the next 14 months," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "My Tariff Policies will ensure that Steel will once again be, forever, MADE IN AMERICA."

Previous attempts from Nippon to acquire U.S. Steel had been blocked by President Joe Biden. Trump had also previously opposed the deal, but seemingly began to soften his position in February during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Market remains susceptible to sell-offs on any negative tariff news, chief equity strategist says

Markets are riding on a fragile sense of optimism, according to LPL chief equity strategist Jeff Buchbinder.

"Stocks are pricing in a lot of optimism on trade negotiations. If we get any negative news on tariffs after one of the biggest four-week rallies in decades, this market is susceptible to sell-offs," Buchbinder said.

Rising interest rates add to the downside risk here, while further progress on the Trump tax bill and artificial intelligence investment could help mitigate downside, he said.

— Pia Singh

Trump's Friday morning comments are 'primarily a negotiating tactic,' but nonetheless more volatility is ahead, Barclays says

The recent brief respite in trade tensions was but a blip on the radar, according to Barclays.

"We believe that this morning's social media posts about a 50% tariff on the EU are primarily a negotiating tactic," the bank wrote in a Friday note. "But today's developments, including the posts about I-phones, do highlight that the US has not turned the page on tariffs and that more trade policy volatility lies ahead."

— Lisa Kailai Han

CIO expects a 'more measured' reaction to Trump's Friday comments but 'tug of war' ahead for economy

Markets sold off on Friday after Trump suddenly re-escalated trade tensions.

But Scott Ladner, the chief investment officer at Horizon Investments, believes investors will likely reign in their selling compared to last month, when Trump first unveiled his retaliatory tariffs on "liberation day" on April 2.

"The market reaction will likely be more measured than on Liberation Day because the playbook now involves a high likelihood of Trump caving at some point, but the uncertain timing and not-zero chance that he doesn't cave will keep equities on edge for the next couple of weeks, at least," he said. "You just can't continue to keep an economy and companies operating in a cloud of extraordinarily high uncertainty forever without some economic consequences eventually … that's going to be the tug of war the next several months."

— Lisa Kailai Han

Trump's Friday morning comments could be attempt to lower yields, investor speculates

Trump's comments on Friday morning hinting that he would re-escalate trade tensions could have been an effort by the administration to lower Treasury yields, investor Ken Mahoney speculated.

"It seems Trump woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, but really we think this could be some more tactics from Trump to get yields lower perhaps," said Mahoney, the CEO of Mahoney Asset Management. "The market needed a reason to go 'back and fill' and we are getting it now. And hope the charts will show higher highs, or higher lows. Bulls should have no problem with this if lower support levels are not breached, this can be a much-needed breather after a massive move."

— Lisa Kailai Han

Investors should beware of being 'lulled into a false sense' of security by believing in permanent trade de-escalation, investor says

Rick Wedell, president and chief investment officer at RFG Advisory, believes investors should expect some degree of permanent trade-related volatility for the duration of Trump's second term.

Wedell stressed that Trump would likely continue to threaten trade action against other nations as a negotiation tactic, then "pull that back" once the market reacts very negatively.

"I would just encourage investors to never get lulled into a false sense either way," he said. "When it seems like we have put this all behind us, I would encourage people to remember that this is something that will come up again. When it seems like it's the depths of despair and we're about to shut down trade with all of the countries, I think we should remember that the administration doesn't really want that and I think still keeps the stock market a little bit as the administration's score card."

— Lisa Kailai Han

Booz Allen Hamilton, Intuit among stocks moving midday

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading:

• Booz Allen Hamilton — Shares of the consulting firm lost 15% after Booz Allen Hamilton said it would cut roughly 2,500 jobs, or 7% of its workforce, citing a slowdown in some government spending under the Trump administration and expected ongoing pressure on its business in the first half of the fiscal year.
• Intuit — Shares of Intuit, which owns TurboTax and QuickBooks software, popped 7.5% after the company reported strong quarterly results. Intuit said its revenue in the fiscal third quarter increased 15% to $7.8 billion.
• Apple — The tech giant's stock slid 2.6% after President Donald Trump threatened that Apple will have to pay a tariff of 25% or more for iPhones made outside the U.S. Production of Apple's flagship phone happens primarily in China, but the company has been shifting manufacturing to India amid Trump's trade war.

— Pia Singh

Wedbush's Dan Ives says Trump's call for Apple to produce iPhones in the U.S. is a 'fairy tale'

In a Friday note, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives cast criticism on Trump's Friday announcement of a special tariff on Apple iPhones sold but not made in the U.S.

"We believe the concept of Apple producing iPhones in the [U.S.] is a fairy tale that is not feasible," Ives wrote to clients in a Friday note.

The analyst added that this move is "not realistic," given it would take between five and 10 years to onshore manufacturing.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read the full story here.

— Alex Harring, Lisa Kailai Han

Recession odds have increased after Trump ramped up trade tensions, investor says

Dr. Komal Sri-Kumar, president of Sri-Kumar Global Strategies, pointed out that investors now see greater odds of a recession following Trump's reescalation of trade tensions on Friday morning.

"Notice that equity futures have tumbled while long-dated U.S. Treasury yields have fallen. This is because markets believe that chances of a recession have increased," he said. "I anticipate that yields will also rise in the next few days. Why? Because the risk is stagflation, not just a recession."

Meanwhile, Sri-Kumar noted that the trade war did not end after Trump decided to back off from his proposed 145% tariff on Chinese products. Rather, it just took a "short respite." He added that the European Union has emerged as an increasingly important trading partner over the past few years.

"Also, [Trump] recommends a 50% tariff on imports from Europe," Sri-Kumar said. "Remember that the EU was the largest exporter to the United States in 2024, beating China in that race."

— Lisa Kailai Han

All S&P 500 sectors are now negative on the week

Following Friday's market moves, all of the S&P 500's 11 sectors were pacing to close the week lower.

The energy sector, down 4.8%, led the weekly losses. The communication services sector fell 0.6% on Friday and is now slated to end the week with a 0.3% slide.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Apple market capitalization falls below $3 trillion level

Shares of Apple fell more than 2% on Friday after Trump took to Truth Social to announce that a 25% tariff "must be paid by Apple" on iPhones sold but not made in the U.S.

Apple's move lower on Friday brought its market capitalization back below the $3 trillion level. It had last closed below that level on May 9.

Microsoft and Nvidia remain in the above $3 trillion market capitalization club.

Shares of Apple are now on pace for their eighth straight negative session for the first time since January 2020.

— Nick Wells, Lisa Kailai Han

3 stocks in the S&P 500 trade at new all-time highs

Despite the stock market's retreat on Friday, three stocks in the S&P 500 traded at new 52-week highs, as shown below.

• Philip Morris trading at all-time highs back to its spinoff from Altria in March 2008
• GE Vernova trading at all-time highs back to its spinoff from GE in April 2024
• Intuit trading at all-time-high levels back to its initial public offering in 1993

On the other hand, three stocks in the benchmark hit new 52-week lows. This included:

• CarMax trading at lows not seen since November 2023
• Campbell Soup Company trading at lows not seen since February 2019
• Kraft Heinz trading at lows not seen since April 2020
• Revvity trading at lows not seen since December 2023

— Christopher Hayes, Lisa Kailai Han

White House believes market is overreacting to Trump's tariff comments

The White House view Friday morning was that the stock market was overreacting to Trump's tariff comments, CNBC's Eamon Javers reported.

The White House, Javers added, did not interpret the president's post as a formal statement of policy.

Javers noted that U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has a call with his European counterparts later today, so the president's post earlier today may have been an attempt to create space and leverage for Greer to negotiate.

— Jesse Pound, Christina Wilkie

Pressure should stay on Apple, Blue Chip Daily Trend Report CEO warns

Larry Tentarelli, CEO of the Blue Chip Daily Trend Report, cautioned against investors buying the dip on Apple shares following Trump's announcement of a special tariff on iPhones.

"The tariff headlines surrounding Apple … will probably remain as an overhang on the stock," he said in an email to CNBC.

Tentarelli said his concerns around the stock were bolstered by its recent underperformance compared with the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ).

"We would not be buyers of AAPL stock currently, unless there is a major resolution here," Tentarelli said. "I don't expect AAPL will look to move production to the U.S., due to the increased cost, and 25% tariffs would likely be much less than the increase in production costs."

"Overall though, this should keep pressure on AAPL," he added.

— Alex Harring

Goldman: Monster is 'one of the most attractive growth stories' among staples

Goldman Sachs offered praise for Monster Beverage in a note to clients.

"We believe MNST is one of the most attractive growth stories in broader Staples," analyst Bonnie Herzog wrote in a note published Thursday.

"We continue to believe MNST has meaningful room to grow gross profit dollars (and improve gross margins) through a combination of incremental topline growth opportunities from strong innovation & pricing, while moderating input costs provide a clear line of sight to [Green Monster] recovery," Herzog added. "Ultimately we think [that] should serve as a positive catalyst and support a further re-rating of the stock."

— Alex Harring

Stocks fall after Trump ramps up trade war

Stocks retreated Friday morning after Trump ramped up global trade tensions once again.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 413 points, or 1%. The S&P 500 fell 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.6%.

— Lisa Kailai Han

European stocks fall on Trump's EU tariff recommendation

Shares of several European banks and luxury names dropped in premarket trading after Trump recommended a 50% tariff on the European Union.

U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank slipped 5.1%, while HSBC and ING Groep each traded about 2% lower. Spain-based Banco Santander lost about 1.9%.

LVMH and Birkin maker Hermes International also fell.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index was last down 1.5%.

— Pia Singh

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

• Apple — The tech giant saw shares fall 3.5% in premarket trading after President Donald Trump said in a social media post that Apple will have to pay a tariff of 25% or more for iPhones made outside the U.S.
• Nuclear stocks — Stocks tied to nuclear energy rose as a group after Reuters reported, citing sources, that Trump will sign orders to boost nuclear power as soon as Friday. Shares of Oklo and NuScale rallied more than 8% each. Constellation Energy gained 2%, while Cameco rose 4%.
• Intuit — Shares rallied nearly 8% after the tax software company issued a rosy full-year outlook. Intuit expects adjusted earnings in the range of $20.07 to $20.12 per share, up from its previous guidance of $19.16 to $19.36 per share. Analysts expected $19.40 in earnings per share, according to consensus estimates from FactSet. The company's fiscal third-quarter also beat expectations.

Read the full story here.

— Sarah Min

Nuclear stocks rally on report Trump will sign executive orders to back industry

Nuclear power stocks jumped on Friday after sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Trump will sign executive orders to speed the construction of reactors and secure key materials for the industry.

Trump could sign the orders as early as Friday, the sources said. The official White House calendar has Trump scheduled to sign orders in the Oval Office at 1 p.m. ET.

Advanced reactor companies NuScale and Oklo respectively surged 11% and 9%. Shares of Constellation Energy, the largest nuclear operator in the U.S., rose nearly 4%, while Cameco Corp., one of the world's largest uranium miners, climbed 5%.

— Spencer Kimball, Lisa Kailai Han

Trump recommends 50% tariff on European Union

On Friday, Trump said he is "recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union," citing stalling trade negotiations between the bloc and the U.S. Trump's proposed tariff would begin on June 1.

In a Truth Social post, Trump called the European Union "very difficult to deal with."

"Their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable. Our discussions with them are going nowhere!" he wrote.

The president added that no tariffs would be imposed for any products built or manufactured in the U.S.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Trump declares 25% tariff on Apple iPhones sold but not manufactured in the U.S.

Shares of Apple fell 3% in Friday's premarket trading hours after Trump took to Truth Social to announce that a 25% tariff "must be paid by Apple" on iPhones sold but not made in the U.S.

"I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone's that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else. If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.," Trump wrote in the post.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Sonoco Products gets double upgrade from Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo issued a rare double upgrade to Sonoco Products on Friday.

Analyst Gabe Hajde raised his rating on the manufacturer to overweight from underweight. Hajde also lifted his price target by $10 to $55, which implies 21.9% upside over Thursday's closing level.

"With valuation well below historical averages and a relatively clear path to higher profits, we view the shares as attractive," Hajde wrote to clients in a Friday note announcing the call.

Hajde also noted that the company's efforts to simplify the business have started reaching the "late" stages.

Shares popped more than 1% in Friday's premarket trading. The stock has lost more than 7% in 2025, on pace for its third straight losing year.

— Alex Harring

Supreme Court suggests Fed board members are protected from being fired by a president

The Supreme Court suggested on Thursday that Federal Reserve board members have special protection from being fired by a president.

This ruling permits President Donald Trump to fire two members who are on the boards of federal agencies, but it also suggests that an attempt by a president to terminate a Federal Reserve board member would face pushback from the Supreme Court.

"The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States," the majority ruling said.

Read more about the Supreme Court's decision here.

— Darla Mercado, Dan Mangan

Stocks making the biggest moves after hours

Check out some of the companies making headlines in extended trading:

• Ross Stores — Shares pulled back more than 11%. Ross withdrew its earlier full-year guidance. The off-price retailer said it expects second-quarter earnings to range from $1.40 to $1.55 per share, while analysts polled by LSEG sought $1.65 per share. Ross also said it expects pressure on its profitability if tariffs remain at elevated levels.
• AutoDesk — Shares gained more than 2% after the software company issued a higher-than-expected second-quarter outlook. AutoDesk forecast adjusted earnings in the current quarter in the range of $2.44 to $2.48 per share on revenue of $1.72 billion to $1.73 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG were looking for $2.34 in earnings per share and revenue of $1.70 billion.
• Intuit — Shares of the tax software company gained about 8% after Intuit forecast a rosy outlook for the full year. The firm forecast adjusted earnings in the range of $20.07 to $20.12 per share, up from its earlier guidance of $19.16 to $19.36 per share. FactSet consensus estimates sought $19.40 per share. Fiscal third-quarter results also topped estimates.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

Stock futures rise

Stock futures were higher on Thursday as investors try to shake off rising Treasury yields.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 59 points, or 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures traded higher as well, alongside S&P 500 futures.

— Brian Evans