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* China to impose tariffs on $60 bln of U.S. goods
* Apple drops nearly 5%, leads decline in tech sector
* S&P 500 at 4.4% below record levels
* Uber falls for second day after underwhelming IPO
* Indexes drop: Dow 2%, S&P 2.12%, Nasdaq 2.77%
(Updates to open)
By Sruthi Shankar and Amy Caren Daniel
May 13 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes fell more than
2% on Monday after Beijing announced plans to retaliate with
higher tariffs on U.S. goods, raising fears that another round
of tit-for-tat measures could push the U.S. economy toward
recession.
At the center of the selloff were shares of technology
companies including chipmakers, manufacturing giants and
retailers that are exposed to China.
The "FAANG" group of stocks - Facebook Inc FB.O ,
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O , Netflix Inc
NFLX.O and Google parent Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O - fell between
1.7% and 5%.
China's finance ministry said on Monday it planned to impose
tariffs ranging from 5% to 25% on 5,140 U.S. products on a
target list worth about $60 billion from June 1, striking back
after U.S. raised duties last week. "This just got messier and more expensive to the global
economy and until we get break here, markets are going to be
under pressure," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at
National Securities in New York.
"Every increase in tariffs is a drag to the global economy
and if it drags the economy down, it will drag earnings down, so
stocks are going to react to that."
The S&P 500 .SPX on Friday racked up its worst weekly
decline since December, as Washington raised tariffs on Chinese
goods worth $200 billion to 25% from 10%. The tensions reverberated through global financial markets,
with the yield curve between three-month U.S. Treasury bills and
10-year notes inverting for the second time in less than a week
on Monday. US/ An inversion in the yield curve is seen as a classic signal
that a recession is coming. It also makes banks' lending less
profitable. The S&P banks index .SPXBK fell 2.7%
U.S. equities hit record highs just two weeks ago on hopes
of a trade deal and a positive first-quarter earnings season.
The S&P 500 was trading 4.4% below its all-time high close.
As the trade dispute extends, investors expect tariffs to
increase corporate costs, lower profit margins and hinder the
ability of companies to plan or make capital expenditures.
.N/O
A Bank of America Merrill report showed new tariffs pose a
downside risk to 2019 earnings per share of 1% to 3% for S&P 500
companies in case of no resolution.
Tariff-sensitive Boeing Co BA.N declined 2.9% and
Caterpillar Inc CAT.N dipped 4%. The Philadelphia chip index .SOX was down 3.8%, adding to
a 6% decline last week. Micron Technology Inc MU.O , Intel Corp
INTC.O and Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O fell between 2.6% and 3.3%.
At 9:55 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 518.98 points, or 2.00%, at 25,423.39, the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 61.03 points, or 2.12%, at 2,820.37 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 219.42 points, or 2.77%, at 7,697.52.
Shares of Uber Technologies Inc UBER.N fell 7.4%,
extending losses from Friday's 7.6% fall in its first day of
trading as a public company. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 6.21-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 6.71-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and 11 new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded seven new highs and 83 new lows.