Investing.com – Wall Street was lower on Friday as markets worry that news of steel and aluminum import tariffs in the U.S. could lead to a trade war.
The S&P 500 was down 27 points or 1.02% to 2,650.48 as of 9:56 AM ET (14:56 GMT) while the Dow composite decreased 359 points or 1.46% to 24,249.30, and tech heavy NASDAQ Composite fell over 73 points or 1.02% to 7,107.05.
Markets have closed in the red for three consecutive days amid fresh interest rate concerns and political turmoil.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States would impose import tariffs on steel and aluminum, raising concern about higher prices and a trade war.
Trump said duties of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum would be formally announced next week, sparking concerns of retaliatory moves from major trade partners such as China, Europe and neighboring Canada.
Technology stocks had the biggest losses after the morning bell. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell 2.07%, while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) was down 1.56% and Google’s Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) decreased 1.85%. Meanwhile Boeing (NYSE:BA) slumped 2.92% while McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) dipped down 3.53% and JC Penney Company Inc Holding (NYSE:JCP) slumped 12.50%.
Elsewhere Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) rose 5.17% and social media site Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) inched up 0.15%.
In Europe stocks were down. In Germany the DAX fell 241 points or 1.98% while France’s CAC 40 decreased 111 points or 2.11% and in London the FTSE 100 lost 90 points or 1.27%. Meanwhile Spain’s IBEX 35 was down 192 points or 1.98% and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 inched down 60 points or 1.78%.
In commodities, gold futures surged 1.43% to $1,323.90 a troy ounce while crude oil futures decreased 0.77% to $60.52 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.24% to 90.00.