Investing.com - Wall Street slumped early Friday as geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Turkey sent jitters across global markets.
The S&P 500 fell 14 points, or 0.50%, to 2,839.23 as of 9:36 AM ET (13:36 GMT), while the Dow decreased 165 points, or 0.65%, to 25,343.40 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 39 points, or 0.50%, to 7,852.47.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he would double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Turkey, as the two countries face a diplomatic conflict.
Earlier in the day Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urged citizens to sell U.S. dollars and gold for lira, after a meeting between Turkish and U.S. officials lead to no solution over the detention of a U.S. pastor in Turkey. The Turkish lira slumped to an all-time low.
Technology stocks were lower after the morning bell, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) falling 0.14%, Snap down 1.22% and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) dipping 0.80%. Dropbox (NASDAQ:DBX) slumped 9.32% after news that its chief operating officer, Dennis Woodside, is stepping down.
Elsewhere, Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) surged 23.06% after it announced that private equity firm GSR Capital will invest up to $374.55 million in both the company and its blockchain subsidiary tZero.
Meanwhile, U.S. inflation was steady in July, relieving the pressure on the Federal Reserve to increase its pace of interest rate hikes.
In Europe, stocks were down. Germany’s DAX fell 230 points, or 1.82%, while in France the CAC 40 decreased 78 points, or 1.43%, and in London, the FTSE 100 was down 52 points, or 0.68%. Meanwhile, the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost 60 points, or 1.73%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 slumped 166 points, or 1.71%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.20% to $1,222.30 a troy ounce while crude oil futures increased 1.03% to $67.50 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.67% to 96.10.