Associated Press
- Rising trade tensions between the US and China pushed stocks toward their worst week of 2019 as major indexes slid by more than 1.3% at their lowest levels.
- On Friday, China announced its intentions to retaliate against the US for imposing a new 10% tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese products.
- Employment data for July was also released on Friday, with the US economy adding 164,000 nonfarm payrolls during the month.
- The losses mark a continuation of weakness that started on Thursday, when comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell raised concerns around further central-bank easing.
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Stocks are tumbling toward their worst week of 2019 as the market grapples with reignited fears of a trade war between the US and China.
Here's a look at the major indexes as of 11:35 a.m.:
- The S&P 500 fell 0.79%, to 2,930.37 - down as much as 1.3%
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.64%, to 26,413.44 - down as much as 1.3%
- The Nasdaq Composite slid 1.42% to 7,995.21 - down as much as 1.9%
On Thursday, President Trump announced that starting September 1, the US would impose an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese exports. China condemned the move on Friday, and said it "will have to take the necessary counter-measures" against US. In May, China raised tariffs on $60 billion worth of US products from 10% to 25% in response to Trump's escalations.
The new trade spat comes just days after delegations from the two countries met in Shanghai for another round of trade negotiations. Trump said that significant progress would need to be made during the talks or there could be "no deal at all." He also called out China for reneging on its past commitment to purchase more agricultural products from the US.
July employment data was also released on Friday. The US economy added 164,000 jobs last month, extended the labor market's growth streak to 106 straight months.
Friday's losses mark a continuation of weakness that started on Thursday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time since 2008. Comments made by Chair Jerome Powell raised concerns around further central-bank easing.