Stocks decline as oil tumbles, dollar rallies
U.S. stocks fell as crude plunged the most in two years and the dollar spiked higher amid renewed tensions over trade and geopolitics.
The S&P 500 dropped the most in two weeks, as energy and material producers tumbled at least 2 percent on renewed angst that the Trump administration’s trade stance will damp demand for commodities. Oil’s retreat took West Texas crude toward $70 a barrel, while metals and crop futures also slid.
Caterpillar Inc. and Chevron Corp. led losses in the Dow Jones industrial average, and emerging-market equities fell the most since the end of June.
The dollar saw the biggest rise in a month, while the Japanese yen and Chinese offshore yuan dropped. Ten-year Treasury yields fell for the second day in a row.
“We impose tariffs last night after the close and markets across the world are just wrecked,” George Maris, Janus Henderson’s co-head of equities, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “Over the prior three days, we just had quiet and markets just were green across the board. This is right now the critical issue confronting markets.”
The newest salvo in the trade war shattered the momentary calm in the markets that had allowed investors to turn their focus to earnings and growth in the economy and sent the S&P 500 to the highest close since February. Investors continue to be caught in a push and pull between corporate results, which begin to pile in this week, and the growing specter of the trade war.
The S&P 500 Index sank 0.7 percent to 2,774.10. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 0.7 percent, the largest slide since the end of June.