Trade worries weigh on stocks

A slide in technology companies helped pull U.S. stocks lower Monday, snapping a five-day winning streak for the market.

The sell-off came amid speculation the Trump administration was preparing to impose tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. The two governments have already imposed 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion of each other’s goods, and another round of tariffs would represent a significant escalation in the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.

Investors used the prospect of a deeper U.s.-china trade conflict to take profits, especially in technology stocks, the market’s biggest gainers this year. Department stores and other consumer-focused companies also accounted for a big slice of the losses. Safe-play sectors like real estate and utilities rose. Oil prices fell, erasing early gains.

The S&P 500 index fell 16.18 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,888.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 92.55 points, or 0.4 percent, to 26,062.12.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gave up 114.25 points, or 1.4 percent, to 7,895.79. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 18.17 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,703.55. Most stocks closed lower on the New York Stock Exchange.

Apple lost 2.7 percent to $217.88, while Netflix slumped 3.9 percent to $350.35. Twitter fell 4.2 percent to $28.86 after an analyst cut the price target on the social media company.