WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Reflecting renewed trade concerns, U.S. stocks moved sharply lower at the start of trading on Monday. The major averages have climbed off their worst levels of the session since then but currently remain firmly in negative territory.
After plunging nearly 500 points at the open, the Dow is down 253.30 points or 1 percent at 26,251.65. The Nasdaq is down 94.54 points or 1.2 percent at 8,069.45 and the S&P 500 is down 30.10 points or 0.1 percent at 2,915.54.
The initial sell-off on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports in a series of posts on Twitter on Sunday.
Trump said tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods would be increased to 25 percent on Friday and threatened to impose tariffs on the remaining $325 billion worth of Chinese goods 'shortly.'
'The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No!' Trump tweeted, claiming the existing tariffs on Chinese goods have had 'little impact on product cost, mostly borne by China.'
Trump noted China has been paying a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of high tech goods and a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of other goods for ten months.
The 10 percent tariff had been scheduled to rise to 25 percent at the end of last year, but the increase was delayed due to ongoing trade talks.
Trump claimed the tariffs being paid by China for the past several months are 'partially responsible for our great economic results.'
'The United States has been losing, for many years, 600 to 800 Billion Dollars a year on Trade. With China we lose 500 Billion Dollars. Sorry, we're not going to be doing that anymore!' Trump said in a follow-up tweet on Monday.
The tweets from Trump have raised concerns about the next round of U.S.-China trade talks scheduled for later this week in Washington.
A report from the Wall Street Journal said China is considering pulling out of the talks, although a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Chinese delegation is 'preparing to go to the U.S. for the negotiations.'
Reports of progress in the trade talks have contributed to recent strength on Wall Street, although global stocks fell sharply on Monday following Trump's threats.
Semiconductor stocks are turning in some of the market's worst performances in morning trading, resulting in a 2.2 percent slump by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
Considerable weakness has also emerged among steel stocks, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index tumbling by 2.1 percent.
Computer hardware, chemical, and telecom stocks are also seeing significant weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved sharply lower during trading on Monday, with markets in Japan still closed for holidays. China's Shanghai Composite Index plummeted by 5.6 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled by 2.9 percent.
European stocks have also shown significant moves to the downside on the day, although the U.K. markets are closed. The French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both plunging by 1.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved notably higher amid the renewed trade concerns. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.8 basis points at 2.493 percent.
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