Stocks slide after China halts talks

Global stocks took small losses Monday after China reportedly pulled out of trade talks with the U.S. Oil prices jumped after OPEC decided not to produce more oil.

The Wall Street Journal reported that China pulled out of talks that could have led to a new round of negotiations to end the trade war.

The U.S. on Monday began taxing an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports at a rate of 10%, and China added taxes of 5% to 10% on $60 billion in U.S. products.

Industrial companies and banks on Monday suffered some of the worst declines among American stocks. Technology and healthcare companies rose, leaving U.S. indexes only slightly lower.

“The market’s been remarkably resilient over the last couple of months while trade tensions were heating up,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

Sandven said the trade spat will endure past the midterm elections in November, but stocks are likely to keep rising because of strong earnings growth for U.S. companies, combined with low inf lation and low interest rates.

The S&P 500 index fell 10.30 points, or 0.4%, to 2,919.37. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 181.45 points, or 0.7%, to 26,562.05. Both the S&P 500 and Dow set record highs last week.

The Nasdaq composite rose 6.29 points, or 0.1% to 7,993.25. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks dropped 7 points, or 0.4% to 1,705.32.

Sandven said this year’s stock gains have been concentrated in technology, retail and healthcare companies. That was the case Monday, as Apple gained 1.4% to $220.79 and drug and infant formula maker Abbott Laboratories advanced 3.5% to $71.44.

U.S. investors were occupied with other news. OPEC and key allies including Russia decided not to increase their oil output further. Production is falling in some OPEC nations, including Iran, which faces new sanctions from the U.S.

Benchmark U.S. crude gained 1.8% to $72.08 a barrel in New York, while Brent crude, the international standard for oil prices, rose 3% to $81.20 a barrel in London, its highest price in more than three years. Airlines and other transportation companies fell as investors anticipated they will have to pay higher prices for fuel.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.08% from 3.06%.

Gold added 0.3% to $1,204.40 an ounce. Silver lost 0.1% to $14.34 an ounce. Copper fell 0.8% to $2.84 a pound.

The dollar rose to 112.73 yen from 112.52 yen. The euro edged up to $1.1758 from $1.1747.