Stock Market Drop Amid Escalating Tariff Threat

Charlotte Norsworthy
NPR
Jun 19, 2018
4:31 p.m. ET

The U.S. stock market fell sharply Tuesday in response to President Trump's recent threats to add another layer of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 287 points, or about 1.15 percent, marking its sixth straight daily drop. The broader S&P 500 index lost 11 points, or about 0.4 percent.

The threat of a trade war is leaving investors uncertain and is fueling market volatility, said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

"Markets are responding to all of the rhetoric with the trade war," McBride said. "A lot of what we're seeing may be negotiating tactics, but it's just going to be a choppy ride due to this concern."

Asian markets also took a hit Tuesday in response to Trump's announcement. China's Shanghai composite index dropped 3.8 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.8 percent and Japan's Nikkei was down 1.7 percent.

"The Chinese economy is highly dependent on exports and what you are seeing is this reflected in Chinese equity markets," McBride said.

Most European indexes were also down Tuesday.