Stocks - Wall Street Plunges as Trumps Tells US Companies to Leave China

Investing.com – Stocks tumbled Friday as the U.S.-China trade dispute intensified and President Donald Trump announced he was ordering U.S. companies with China facilities to move them somewhere else.

The S&P 500 fell 2.59%. The Dow was off nearly 2.37%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 3.0%. The Nasdaq 100, heavily influenced by some of the biggest names in technology, dropped about 3.15%.

The losses were the third worst point loss for the S&P 500 this year and the fourth-worst daily point losses for the Dow and the Nasdaq.

The three big S&P 500 losses have occurred in August.

The Dow, meanwhile, had fallen as many as 745 points during the session before last-minute bargain hunting trimmed the day's losses.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), whose growth is tied to growth in its China business, was off more than 4.6%. Most big-tech stocks were off by similar amounts. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) fell about 7.4%. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), whose chips speed up graphics applications, fell 5.3%.

The Trump order, announced on Twitter and whose enforceability is questionable, came after China announced it would raise tariffs on a variety of U.S. products, including cars and farm products. The president said U.S. manufacturers should move their Chinese operations elsewhere or bring jobs back to the United States.

After the close, President Trump retaliated against China's tariff move, saying he's raising tariffs to 30% on some Chinese imports after Beijing said it would place added tariffs on U.S. goods. It wasn't clear how the move will affect markets on Monday.

The order also came after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told a Jackson Hole, Wyo., conference that the Fed stood ready to provide stimulus to the economy if needed. Trump didn't like the speech because it did not signal an aggressive interest-rate cut at the Fed's next meeting in September.

In a tweet, Trump asked, "My only question is, who is our biggest enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?” Chairman Xi being Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.

The 10-Year Treasury yield fell to 1.52%, down from 1.61% on Thursday. The spread between the 10-year note yield and the yield on the 2-year Treasury note widened to 0.13 basis points.

Twenty-nine of the 30 Dow stocks were lower, with the Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), the sole gainer, up 1.1%. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the biggest loser.

Twenty-nine of the 30 Dow stocks were lower, with the Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), the sole gainer, up 1.1%. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the biggest loser.

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Only Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and NetEase Inc (NASDAQ:NTES) finished in the black among Nasdaq-100 stocks, with Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS), AMD and Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXN) the biggest losers.

Just nine S&P 500 stocks were higher, led by Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), Newmont Goldcorp (NYSE:NEM), Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and Boeing (NYSE:BA). Foot Locker (NYSE:FL), which reported very disappointing earnings Friday, L Brands (NYSE:LB) and Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) were the weakest S&P 500 performers.

While the major averages are sporting yearly gains of more than 10%, the market continues to be buffeted from volatility in large because of the increasingly tense U.S.-China trade battle and President Trump's angry tweets.

The Dow has seen six daily losses of 280 points or more in August alone.

Friday's selloff wiped out weekly gains for much of the U.S. stock market. The S&P 500 was off 1.4%, with the Dow dropping 1% and the Nasdaq 1.8%.

With a week to go in August, the S&P 500 is down 4.47%, with the Dow down 4.6% and the Nasdaq off 5.2%. August is likely to be the second-worst month of the year for the indexes.

Only Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and NetEase Inc (NASDAQ:NTES) finished in the black among Nasdaq-100 stocks, with Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS), AMD and Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXN) the biggest losers.

Just nine S&P 500 stocks were higher, led by Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), Newmont Goldcorp (NYSE:NEM), Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and Boeing (NYSE:BA). Foot Locker (NYSE:FL), which reported very disappointing earnings Friday, L Brands (NYSE:LB) and Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) were the weakest S&P 500 performers.

While the major averages are sporting yearly gains of more than 10%, the market continues to be buffeted from volatility in large because of the increasingly tense U.S.-China trade battle and President Trump's angry tweets.

The Dow has seen six daily losses of 280 points or more in August alone.

Friday's selloff wiped out weekly gains for much of the U.S. stock market. The S&P 500 was off 1.4%, with the Dow dropping 1% and the Nasdaq 1.8%.

With a week to go in August, the S&P 500 is down 4.47%, with the Dow down 4.6% and the Nasdaq off 5.2%. August is likely to be the second-worst month of the year for the indexes.