Stocks fall amid trade war worries
U.S. stocks skidded Thursday after a report that the Trump administration could put tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods as early as next week.
After a weak start, stocks fell further after Bloomberg News said the U.S. government was getting ready to ramp up its trade dispute with China. The additional tariffs would be a major escalation in the trade fight.
Major exporters including chemical companies and machinery makers took big losses. Technology firms also fell. Banks slid along with interest rates, and some weak second-quarter results hurt retailers.
Stocks were coming off a four-day surge that brought them to record highs as the United States appeared to make progress in trade talks with Mexico and Canada.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 12.91 points, or 0.4%, to 2,901.13. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 137.65 points, or 0.5%, to 25,986.92. The Nasdaq composite fell 21.32 points, or 0.3%, to 8,088.36. The Russell 2000 index edged down 2.40 points, or 0.1%, to 1,732.35.
Construction equipment maker Caterpillar fell 2% to $139.06. Gold and copper miner Freeport-McMoRan slid 3.5% to $14.15. General Motors fell 2% to $36.36.
Discount retailer Dollar Tree plunged 15.5% to $79.78 after its quarterly profit and sales missed projections.
Clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch dived 17.2% to $22.55 after its sales disappointed. PVH, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, sank 9.6% to $141.67.
Arts and crafts retailer Michaels fell 14.8% to $17.01.
Signet Jewelers soared 23.8% to $67.68 after its sales f lew past expectations and it raised its full-year forecasts.
Clothing and accessories retailer Tilly’s jumped 14.6% to $20.63 after its report.
Video game maker Electronic Arts dropped 9.8% to $115.94 after it said the release of a major game would be delayed four weeks. It also said the strong dollar was hurting its sales.
K2M Group leaped 26% to $27.50 after larger medical device maker Stryker agreed to buy it for $27.50 a share, or $1.2 billion. Stryker slipped 1.3% to $169.02.
Campbell Soup fell 2.1% to $39.15 after saying it will sell its international and fresh-food businesses to pay down debt and will focus on its snack and soup business in North America.
Oil prices rose. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.4% to $70.25 a barrel. Brent crude rose 0.8% to $77.77 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline rose 1.8% to $2.14 a gallon. Heating oil inched up 0.3% to $2.25 a gallon. Natural gas rose 0.4% to $2.87 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.86% from 2.88%.
Gold fell 0.5% to $1,205 an ounce. Silver sank 1.5% to $14.59 an ounce. Copper fell 0.7% to $2.71 a pound.