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Stocks fell to their lows of the day on Friday after President Donald Trump ordered in a series tweets that U.S. companies find alternatives to their operations in China. Apple led the way lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 371.20 points, or 1.4%, by noon hour ET, to 25,881.04
The S&P 500 surrendered 45.33 points, or 1.5%, to 2,877.62
The NASDAQ dumped 145.18 points, or 1.8%, to 7,846.24
Apple shares dropped 3.2%. Elsewhere, Nvidia and Broadcom both fell more than 4%. Caterpillar shares, meanwhile, pulled back 2.9%.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivered a speech from an annual central banking symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
In it, he said the Fed will do what it can to sustain the current economic expansion. "Our challenge now is to do what monetary policy can do to sustain the expansion so that the benefits of the strong jobs market extend to more of those still left behind, and so that inflation is centered firmly around 2%."
Trump tweeted on Friday: "Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing..your companies HOME and making your products in the USA."
China will implement new tariffs on another $75 billion worth of U.S. goods, including autos. The tariffs will range between 5% and 10% and will be implemented in two batches on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15.
This is the latest escalation in the trade war that has been going on since last year. Earlier this month, Trump said the U.S. will impose tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports. The administration then said some of those tariffs would be delayed.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained sharply, lowering yields to 1.54% from Thursday’s 1.62%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices withered $1.55 to $53.80 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices picked up $27.40 to $1,535.90 U.S. an ounce.
