Wall Street futures sink as tariffs fuel recession fears

US stock index futures tumbled on Thursday after President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on major trade partners heightened fears of an all-out trade war that could push the global economy into a recession.

Global stocks slumped, government bonds jumped and safe-haven gold touched a record high as Trump slapped a 10 per cent tariff on most goods imported to the United States and much higher levies on dozens of rivals.

Futures tracking the S&P 500 fell 3.26 per cent, Dow futures dropped 2.58% per cent, while Nasdaq 100 tumbled 3.73 per cent, led by declines in shares of megacap tech companies.

Apple sank 7.1 per cent, hit by an aggregate 54 per cent tariff on China - the base for much of Apple's manufacturing. Microsoft dropped 2.2 per cent and Nvidia fell 4.4 per cent.

"Eye-watering tariffs on a country-by-country basis scream 'negotiation tactic,' which will keep markets on edge for the foreseeable future," said Adam Hetts, global head of multi-asset and portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors.

"We've seen the administration have a surprisingly high tolerance for market pain... now the big question is how much tolerance it has for true economic pain as negotiations unfold."

Futures tracking the US small-cap Russell 2000 index tumbled 4.5 per cent, underscoring concerns about the health of the domestic economy.

Retailers were hit hard on Thursday, with Nike dropping 9.1 per cent and Walmart falling 5.8 per cent after Trump imposed a raft of new tariffs on major production hubs including Vietnam, Indonesia and China.

Sentiment among Wall Street traders had already soured in recent weeks on worries the tariffs would hurt the US economy and stoke inflation.