Ouch! U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday after President Donald Trump said the United States would impose import tariffs on steel and aluminum, adding fears of a tit-for-tat trade war to growing worries about higher interest rates. (Yahoo)
After a confused day of report and counter report, Trump said the U.S. would impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on imported aluminum next week.
That drove shares in U.S. steel producers as much as 12 percent higher but knocked 2 percent or more off heavyweights like Boeing and Caterpillar, who investors worried would face higher raw material costs and trade barriers elsewhere.
New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley also added to the evidence that the U.S. central bank under new chief Jerome Powell would seek to tighten monetary policy with four interest rates rises this year, more than previously expected.
By 13:09 p.m. ET, all the major sectors in the S&P 500 were down in response along with 29 of the 30 components of the Dow Industrial Average.
Overall the Dow <.DJI> lost 343.7 points, or 1.4 percent, the S&P 500 <.SPX> 29.03 points, or 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> 77.10 points, or 1.1 percent.