Stocks plunge after Trump takes his trade war with China to a new level
- US stocks erased big gains on Thursday after President Trump announced a fresh round of tariffs on Chinese exports.
- The president wrote in a tweet that the US will impose an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods.
- The benchmark S&P 500 was up as much as 1.1% before Trump's tweet caused a sharp sell-off, pushing the index down more than 1% at intraday lows.
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Major US indexes erased big gains on Thursday after President Trump announced a new round of tariffs of China just days after trade negotiations restarted.
The benchmark S&P 500 was up as much as 1.1% before Trump's tweet caused a sharp sell-off, pushing the index down more than 1% at intraday lows.
"Trade talks are continuing, and......during the talks the U.S. will start, on September 1st, putting a small additional Tariff of 10% on the remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods and products coming from China into our Country," Trump said in a tweet.
Here's a look at the major indexes as of 2:40 p.m.:
- The S&P 500 fell as much as 1%, to 2,969.90 - was up more than 1% earlier
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 1.1%, to 26,580.32 - was up more than 1% earlier
- The Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.1% to 8,088.18 - was up more than 1.6% earlier.'
Trump also called out China for failing to maintain its commitment to purchasing more agricultural products from the US. He added that unless significant progress was made during the talks, there may "no deal at all." Delegations from the two countries meet in Shanghai for trade discussions this week.
Prior to Trump's remarks, all major stock indexes rallied more than 1% on a series of strong earnings releases, and as investors continuted to digest interest-rate guidance from the Federal Reserve. Equities finished in the red on Wednesday amid speculation the central bank's first rate cut in more than 10 years won't kickstart a prolonged easing cycle.