[ad_1]
The threat returned attention to the trade dispute between the two largest economies in the world
Major Wall Street indexes suffered steep declines on Friday, after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on China over the coronavirus crisis, while an Amazon.com warning of its gains also weighed on the market.
Trump said late Thursday that the phase 1 trade deal with China was now of secondary importance due to the pandemic and that his government is drafting a series of measures against the Asian nation for its handling of the epidemic.
The threat returned attention to the trade fight between the two largest economies in the world that generated turmoil in global financial markets for almost two years.
“It is not easy to repair the corporate butcher shop after this perfect storm,” said Peter Cecchini, chief market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York.
At 1523 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 596.51 points, or 2.45%, to 23,747.89 units; while the S&P 500 index lost 68.51 points, or 2.31%, to 2,845.02 units; and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 227.03 points, or 2.55%, to 8,658.88 units.
The technology sector of the S&P 500 fell 1.5% in the first operations of the day, while the sub-index Philadelphia Semiconductor, highly sensitive to commercial issues, fell 4%.
The discretionary consumption subindex also fell under pressure from Amazon.com Inc, which said it could report its first quarterly loss in five years as it would spend at least $ 4 billion to adjust its business to the impact of the coronavirus. Shares of the online trading giant sank 7.2%.
The energy segment was down 4.7% after oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron Corp reported weak quarterly results, as their businesses have been hard hit by the collapse of oil prices in the international market.
By registering you can personalize your content, manage your topics of interest, schedule your notifications and access the cover in the digital version.
