Sell-offs ripple across world

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks plunged to their worst loss of the year Monday and investors around the world scrambled to sell on worries about how much President Donald Trump’s worsening trade war will damage the global economy.

China let its currency, the yuan, drop to its lowest level against the dollar in more than a decade, a move that Trump railed against as “currency manipulation.” It also halted purchases of U.S. farm products.

The escalating dispute between the world’s largest economies is rattling investors unnerved about a global economy that was already slowing and falling U.S. corporate profits.

The sell-off began Monday in Asia, where indexes lost more than 1%, and intensified as it swept westward through Europe to the Americas. Investors in search of safety herded into U.S. government bonds, which sent yields plunging.

Technology stocks bore the brunt of Monday’s selling.

Apple, which is heavily reliant on China for manufacturing and sales, slid 5.2%.

Companies are in the final stretch of the latest round of quarterly earnings reports, and results haven’t been as bad as initially feared, though still down from year-ago levels.

Meat producer Tyson Foods jumped 5.1% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after it reported better-than-expected profits. It was one of only 11 stocks in the S&P 500 to eke out a gain.

In Asia, where tensions between Seoul and Tokyo are worsening in a separate trade dispute, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 1.7%, and South Korea’s Kospi lost 2.6%.