New York: Wall Street stocks dropped early Monday as tensions continued to mount between the US and its key trading partners China and the European Union.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 0.8 percent to 24,089.56.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.6 percent to 2,701.95, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.6 percent to 7,466.12.
President Donald Trump, in a weekend television interview, reiterated tariff threats against the EU and said it was “possibly as bad as China” in terms of its trade policies.
The EU has rejected Trump’s accusations that its terms of trade are unfair, and threatened levies on up to $294 billion of US goods if Trump pushes ahead with punishing tariffs threatened on European autos.
Tensions also remain high between the Washington and Beijing as the US is set to impose additional tariffs on tens of billions in Chinese goods starting Friday.
Analysts expect light trading volume ahead of the July 4th holiday. US markets are closed Wednesday and finish early on Tuesday.
Key data releases include the June jobs report, which will be released Friday.
AFP