US stock futures fall after Trump announces new round of tariffs

US STOCK INDEX futures extended losses in post-market trading late Monday after President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. Mr. Trump said he will impose 10% US tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese imports but he spared smart watches from Apple and Fitbit.

NEW YORK — US stock index futures extended losses in postmarket trading late Monday after President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Mr. Trump said he will impose 10% US tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese imports but he spared smart watches from Apple and Fitbit.

S&P 500 e-mini futures were down 0.3% in trading for the overnight session.

Mr. Trump also warned that if China takes retaliatory action against US farmers and industries, the administration will pursue tariffs on about $267 billion of additional imports.

Earlier, US stocks closed lower on Monday, led by declines in technology and consumer discretionary stocks ahead of President Donald Trump’s announcement regarding tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports.

“Although this was expected and we sold off before the close, one would think the market should be down more,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.

“It’s at the point, the larger these tariffs become, the bigger the problem they become for the administration and the United States. It ups the ante in a significant way, as far as you’re starting to cut some muscle. Consumers will start feeling it.”

Earlier, China vowed that it will not play defense in the escalating trade dispute, adding further fuel to tensions as a new list of items subject to tariffs, including technology and consumer goods, was anticipated from Washington.

“This is the sixth or seventh time we talked about this particular round of tariffs,” said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago. “As long as Trump is comfortable raising tariffs, he believes he’s winning.”

Consumer discretionary and technology were the biggest percentage losers on the S&P 500 index during the regular session, falling 1.3% and 1.4%, respectively. Amazon.com led consumer discretionary stocks lower, falling 3.2%.

Apple, Inc. has said the moves could hit a “wide range” of its products. The iPhone maker’s shares were down 2.7%, providing the biggest drag on the Dow, despite earlier reports that the US would spare some of its products in the latest round of tariff actions.

All of the so-called FAANG group of momentum stocks closed down between 1% and 3.9%. Other FAANG stocks include Netflix, Facebook and Google-parent Alphabet.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 92.55 points or 0.35% to 26,062.12; the S&P 500 lost 16.18 points or 0.56% to 2,888.80; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 114.25 points or 1.43% to 7,895.79.

The S&P 500’s slide was concentrated. Of the 11 major sectors in the index, only four ended the session in negative territory.

The CBOE Volatility index, a gauge of investor anxiety, rose 1.54 points, its first increase in six sessions.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1.46 to 1; on Nasdaq, a 2.12-to-1 ratio favored decliners. Volume on US exchanges was 6.21 billion shares, compared with the 6.14 billion average over the last 20 trading days. —