Dow plunges more than 500 points as Trump picks on Amazon and trade-war fears return
- US stocks saw deep losses Monday as President Donald Trump continued to publicly criticize Amazon, and his administration prepares to roll out China-specific tariffs.
- Technology, consumer discretionary, and energy stocks led major indexes lower.
- Follow the Dow Jones industrial average.
US stocks tumbled Monday as President Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of Amazon, sending technology and consumer discretionary stocks lower.
The selling also comes ahead of the Trump administration's plan to unveil this week the list of Chinese imports targeted for US tariffs. The list of $50-60 billion worth of annual imports is expected to target "largely high-technology" products.
The more tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 - which has been a lightning rod for market volatility in recent weeks - plummeted as much as 3.3% to lead all major US indexes. Meanwhile, the benchmark S&P 500 dropped as much as 2%, and the 30-company Dow Jones industrial average slid more than 2.1% at one point.
Among the technology firms worst hit were chipmakers, including Lam Research, Micron Technology, Nvidia, Intel, and Cisco, which all dropped at least 3.7%. Note that due to their position in supply chain, these firms are more vulnerable to geopolitical turmoil, particularly as it pertains to China.
Mega-cap technology companies also took a dive as the NYSE FANG+ Index - which includes the traditional FANG group (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google) plus six other massive global firms - decreased 4.2%. Amazon, Netflix, and Tesla all logged losses of close to 6%.
Tech sector woes are mounting at a time when it seems everything is going wrong simultaneously for the industry. Netflix shares are falling deeper into a correction in the wake of a recent data breach, while Tesla is under pressure ahead of its quarterly production update for the Model 3 sedan.
Check out Business Insider's in-depth coverage of the market's recent turbulence:
- A group of investors once left for dead looks more prepared than anyone to fight off a trade war
- GOLDMAN SACHS: The stock market's turbulent first quarter created a bonanza for 2 groups of companies
- Here's a 2-part trade that will help investors survive as global economies splinter apart, says Bernstein
- There's an eye-popping statistic that shows turbulence in tech stocks may just be getting started
Elsewhere in global equity markets, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.2% after climbing as much as 0.7% in early trading, while the Stoxx Europe 600 increased 0.4%.
In the bond market, the 10-year US Treasury yield rose 7 basis points to 2.74%, inching closer to the key 3% level that traders are closely watching. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has said in the past that a trade war will move yields higher in the medium to long term.
Here's a rundown of other asset classes:
- US Dollar Index (+0.17%)
- Crude oil (WTI) (-2.65%)
- Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) (+16%)
- Gold (+1.07%)
- Bitcoin (+2.35%)