A slide in technology companies led U.S. stocks lower Monday afternoon, placing the market on track to give back some of its gains from last week. Investors had their eye on Washington amid speculation that the Trump administration is preparing to impose tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. Retailers and banks also declined, outweighing gains in industrial companies and elsewhere. Oil prices fell, erasing early gains.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index fell 16 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,889 at closing time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 93 points, or 0.4 percent, to 26,062. The Nasdaq composite gave up 114 points, or 1.4 percent, to 7,896. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 13 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,708.
TARIFF JITTERS: The U.S. and China have imposed import taxes on $50 billion worth of each other’s products in a rumble over American allegations that Beijing uses predatory tactics to acquire technology know-how in an effort to overtake America’s global supremacy in tech. Over the weekend, news reports indicated that the White House was set to announce tariffs on $200 billion more in Chinese imports as soon as Monday. That would significantly escalate the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
THE QUOTE: “It’s a short-term, immediate-term thorn in the market’s side,” said Ted Theodore, chief investment officer of TrimTabs Asset Management. “A big part of it is not knowing what the game plan is.”
DATA PROBE: Amazon.com lost 2.3 percent to $1,925.59 after The Wall Street Journal reported that the online retail giant is investigating suspected bribes and data leaks of its employees.
SHOPPED OUT: Several big department store chains slumped. Macy’s slid 2.2 percent to $35.48. Kohl’s lost 1.3 percent to $79.77. Gap gave up 1.9 percent to $27.24.
TWEET THIS: Shares in Twitter fell 3.4 percent to $29.10 after an analyst cut the price target on the social media company.
TAKING OFF: Airlines and other industrial sector stocks posted solid gains as the dollar weakened. American Airlines Group rose 1.8 percent to $40.45, while Caterpillar added 1.2 percent to $146.70.
RELIEVED: Teva Pharmaceutical climbed 3 percent to $23.54 after U.S. regulators approved the drugmaker’s preventative migraine treatment.
ENERGY: Oil prices headed lower, wiping out gains from earlier in the day. Benchmark U.S. crude lost 0.1 percent to settle at $68.91 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 0.1 percent to settle at $78.05 a barrel in London.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline slipped 0.3 percent to $1.98 a gallon, heating oil fell 0.1 percent to $2.21 a gallon and natural gas jumped 1.7 percent to $2.81 per 1,000 cubic feet.
BOND YIELDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3 percent from 2.99 percent late Friday.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 111.96 yen from 112.03 yen on Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.1688 from $1.1632.
METALS: Gold rose 0.4 percent to $1,205.80 an ounce. Silver added 0.6 percent to $14.22 an ounce. Copper gained 0.2 percent to $2.65 a pound.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, the DAX in Germany dropped 0.2 percent, while France’s CAC 40 lost 0.1 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 finished flat. Major indexes in Asia closed mostly lower. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.7 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tumbled 1.3 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3 percent. Japanese markets were closed for a national holiday.
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