INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
US stock indexes fell on Monday, with industrial and technology shares bearing the brunt of the latest round of United States -China tariffs
as neither country showed signs of backing down from a protracted trade war.
Nine of the 11 major SP sectors, including the rebranded and
bigger "communications services" sector, were lower as United States tariffs on some $200 billion worth of Chinese goods took effect, along
with Beijing's retaliatory duties.
The latest list of Chinese goods subject to tariffs includes many technology products
While the new duties spared many high-profile consumer technology items such as "smart" watches and speakers, less flashy home modems and
routers were not so lucky.
The technology sector dropped 0.17 percent, weighing the most on the market
Industrial stocks fell 1.09 percent, with Boeing, the biggest United States exporter to China, shedding 0.6 percent.
"One of the bigger
risks with these tariffs going into effect is that the United States may be pushed out of the Chinese market and it is a growing market,"
said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St
Petersburg, Florida.
At 10:09 a.m
ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 112.23 points, or 0.42 percent, at 26,631.27, the SP 500 was down 8.28 points, or 0.28 percent,
at 2,921.39 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 18.45 points, or 0.23 percent, at 7,968.51.
The CBOE Global Markets volatility index, known as
Wall Street's "fear gauge", rose 6.08 percent as the SP 500 sector shuffle took effect.
The communications services index, an expanded
version of the old telecoms sector, dropped 0.36 percent in its debut.
Its new components, Facebook Inc, Twitter and Alphabet, were flat to
lower on renewed fears of higher regulation after a report said the White House has drafted a preliminary order to direct federal agencies
to probe the business practices of social media and internet firms.
The biggest drag, though, was Comcast, which slid 8.0 percent after it
won an auction for Sky Plc, ending a battle with Twenty-First Century Fox and Walt Disney
Fox and Disney were up 0.6 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
The energy sector rose 1.77 percent, the most among the 11 major sectors, as
oil prices jumped after OPEC rebuffed calls by United States President Donald Trump to raise supply.
Exxon Mobil gained 2.1 percent and
Chevron 1.2 percent, and, along with Disney, were the top three gainers on the Dow.
Symantec rose 4.4 percent after the Norton anti-virus
maker said it would not restate previous results, except for a $13 million transaction, after a four-month long probe into its accounting
practices.
Alexion Pharma jumped 3.8 percent after its drug, Soliris, being tested to treat a rare central nervous system disorder, met the
main goal of the study.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.58-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.25-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The SP
index recorded 14 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 28 new highs and 17 new lows.
