Stocks slide as unrest in Hong Kong shakes already-rattled investors

Associated Press

• Stocks slipped on Monday as thousands of demonstrators forced Hong Kong's main airport to cancel all flights in the latest escalation of protests within city.
• The shutdown piles onto investors existing concerns over the global economy amid a deteriorating outlook for a trade deal between the US and China.
• Shares of Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's dominant airline, plummeted as much as 4.9% to decade lows after China demanded that it prevent protesting employees from flying to the mainland.
• The US budget deficit in 2019 has grown larger than the entire deficit for last year, according to the Treasury Department's monthly report.
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Stocks fell on Monday as flaring political unrest in Hong Kong rocked markets already fragile from a deteriorating outlook for a US-China trade deal.

Hong Kong's airport was forced to cancel more than 100 flights on Monday after thousands of demonstrators clogged departure and arrival halls preventing passengers from boarding any planes.

The demonstration follows weeks of protests throughout the city that were sparked by an extradition bill introduced earlier this year. Chinese authorities have warned that the unrest could send Hong Kong into a recession and said that the city is at a "critical juncture."

Adding to the concerns of a global recession, Argentina's currency and equities fell after the country's incumbent president suffered an unexpected defeat in primary presidential elections.

Bond yields fell as investors fled equities for the relative safety of haven assets amid growing concerns of global economic slowdown. The yield on the 10-year treasury fell almost 10 basis points to 1.65%.

Here's a look at the major indexes as of the 4 p.m. close on Monday:

• The S&P 500 slid 1.23%, to 2,882.69.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.49%, to 25,896.44.
• The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.20%, to 7,863.41.

The US budget deficit so far in 2019 has already grown larger than the entire deficit for last year. The gap between federal expenditures and government income increased 27% in July from the same period last year, bringing the total deficit to $867 billion for the first ten months of the 2019 fiscal year.

Shares of cannabis producer CannTrust fell as much as 25% on Monday after Health Canada rated one of its facilities in Vaughan, Ontario non-compliant. The company's stock tumbled as much as 5% last Friday after KPMG, its auditor, withdrew its most recent quarterly and full-year results over

Shares of Cathay Pacific slid as much as 4.9% to a decade low on Monday after China demanded the airline prevent protesting employees from flying to the mainland. Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's dominant airline, received a letter on Friday from China's civil aviation agency asking the company to share information on crew members flying to China.

Within the S&P 500, these were the largest gainers:

• Amgen: 4.9%
• CenturyLink: 3.9%
• Sysco: 3.1%

And the largest decliners:

• Nektar Therapeutics: (-11.2%)
• Mosaic: (-8.2%)
• Corteva: (-6.4%)

Every sector within the S&P 500 declined on Monday. Financial stocks took the biggest hit, with consumer discretionary shares also falling.