Stock indexes fall amid China anger

Investors jittery as unrest surges over COVID lockdowns

A broad slide on Wall Street left stocks lower Monday as global financial markets reacted to protests in China calling for President Xi Jinping to step down amid growing anger over severe COVID-19 restrictions.

The S&P 500 fell 1.5%, clawing back all of the benchmark index's gains from last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 1.4% lower, while the Nasdaq composite slid 1.6%.

The world's second largest economy has been stifled by a “zero COVID” policy which includes lockdowns that continually threaten the global supply chain at a time when recession fears hang over economies worldwide. The recent demonstrations there are the greatest show of public dissent against the ruling Communist Party in decades.

The unrest stoked worries on Wall Street that if Xi cracks down even further on dissidents there or expands the lockdowns, it could slow the Chinese economy, which would hurt oil prices and global economic growth, said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA.

“A lot of people are worried about what the fallout will be, and basically are using that as an excuse to take some recent profits,” he said.

More than 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 closed in the red, with technology companies the biggest weights on the broader market. Apple, which has seen iPhone production hit hard by lockdowns in China, fell 2.6%.

Banks and industrial stocks also were among the biggest drags on the market. JPMorgan fell 1.7% and Boeing slid 3.7%.

Several casino operators gained ground as the Chinese gambling haven of Macao tentatively renewed their licenses. Las Vegas Sands rose 1.1% and Wynn Resorts gained 4.4%.

The fallout from the collapse of crypto exchange FTX continued. Cryptocurrency lender BlockFi is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global