Stocks - Day of Reckoning Hits Stocks as U.S.-China Trade War Escalates

Investing.com – Stocks slumped on Monday, as industrial and technology stocks were shunned amid rising U.S.-China trade tensions after China launched counter-tariffs against U.S. goods.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 2.38%, the S&P 500 lost 2.41%, while the Nasdaq Composite slumped 3.41%.

Beijing said it would raise tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. imports from June 1, prompting fears that tit-for-tat tariffs between both nations could return and hurt the world's two largest economies.

U.S.-China tariffs could shave 0.5% off China's GDP, lower U.S. GDP by 0.25% and cut global GDP by 0.15%, said Societe Generale).

In the wake of tariffs from Beijing, President Donald Trump offered investors some hope, saying he has not decided whether to put tariffs on remaining $325 billion in Chinese goods.

But that did little to boost trade-sensitive corners of the market with industrials and technology leading the steep decline in the broader market.

Industrials slumped than 3% as Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), bellwethers of international trade, tumbling more than 4%.

Adding to Boeing's woes were fears aviation regulators may delay lifting bans on the aircraft maker's maligned 737 Max jets, which were recently involved in two fatal crashes, until mid to late August.

Chip stocks, meanwhile, pressured tech stocks on fears the return of the U.S.-China trade war may dent the economic recovery in China, one of the biggest semiconductor investors.

Consumer discretionaries were also down sharply, led by Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN).

Energy stocks also contributed to the decline, falling more than 1% after U.S. oil prices came under pressure on fears the trade war could dent demand for oil from China, the world's largest energy consumer.

In other company news, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) ventured into subscription television after Apple TV Channels went live.

Elsewhere, Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) added to losses following its market debut on Friday, falling 10.75%, after CEO Dara Khosrowshahi reportedly sent an email to employees saying "obviously our stock did not trade as well as we had hoped post-IPO. "Today is another tough day in the market, and I expect the same as it relates to our stock."

Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:

Newmont Goldcorp (NYSE:NEM), American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) and HCP (NYSE:HCP) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.

Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL), Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) and IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.

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