Stocks tumble again on report U.S. plans more tariffs

NEW YORK — Fear that the Trump administration will announce tariffs on all remaining imports from China helped knock U.S. stocks from a strong early gain to another sharp loss Monday.

Technology companies sank again after Bloomberg News reported that the U.S. is planning new tariffs if the two sides don’t make progress in trade talks next month.

Technology and internet companies, industrials and retailers took steep losses as Wall Street’s recent bout of volatility continued. The S&P 500 index has dropped 9.4 percent in October and is on track for its worst monthly loss since February 2009. That was right before the market hit its lowest point during the 2008-09 financial crisis.

Bloomberg News reported that the Trump administration will put tariffs on the

rest of the country’s imports from China if President Trump and China’s Xi Jinping don’t make substantial progress in easing the trade dispute next month.

The S&P 500 index fell 17.44 points to 2,641.25. The Dow Jones industrial average gained as much as 352 points Monday morning but closed down 245.39 points at 24,442.92. It fell as much as 566 during the day.

The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, lost 116.92 points, or 1.6 percent, to 7,050.29. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 6.51 points to 1,447.31.

Stocks have plunged since early October, breaking a long period of relative calm over the summer, and trading has been especially volatile the past few days.

Among industrials, Boeing sank 6.6 percent to $335.59. Some early gains for tech and internet stocks also faded. Microsoft shed 2.9 percent to $103.85. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, lost 4.5 percent to $1,034.73.

Amazon.com dropped another 6.3 percent to $1,538.88. The online retailer tumbled Friday after it reported weak sales and gave a lower-than-expected revenue estimate for the quarter that includes the holiday shopping season. Its stock traded above $2,000 a share in early September and has fallen 24.5 percent since then.

The S&P 500, the main benchmark for the U.S. stock market, has fallen 9.9 percent from its latest record high on Sept. 20. The Nasdaq has plunged 13 percent from its record high reached Aug. 29. Marley Jay is an Associated Press writer.