By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets fell to a two-week low at the opening on Monday, extending Friday's losses after President Donald Trump warned of reheating the trade war with China as a reprisal for its role in the Covid-19 pandemic.
By 9:35 AM ET (1335 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 333 points, or 1.4% at 23.390 points, while the S&P 500 was down 1.0% and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.8%.
Trump told Fox (NASDAQ:FOX) News in a virtual town hall meeting that tariffs would be "the ultimate punishment" for its perceived shortcomings in relaying information about the origin and spread of the virus. He also threatened to rip up last year's 'phase 1' trade deal if China failed to buy the promised volumes of U.S. goods - even though its demand for many imports, notably oil, has fallen because of the pandemic's effect on its own and the world economy.
Airline stocks were prominent losers in early trading after Warren Buffett said his Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) company had sold all its investments in the sector due to the pandemic's transformational effect on the outlook for it. American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) stock was down 8.2% and Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) stock was down 8.5%, while Southwest (NYSE:LUV) stock was down 6.4% and United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) stock was down 7.1%.
Buffett's comments also shaved another 4.4% off Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) stock, leaving it flirting with a one-month low. Berkshire's own stock drifted 2.9% lower amid disappointment at Buffett's comment that he still wasn't enthusiastic about major purchases even at the valuations seen over the last few weeks.
The prospect of a long and uneven recovery from the pandemic also weighed on Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) stock, which lost 3.6% after long-time bull Michael Nathanson of MoffattNathanson downgraded the stock to 'neutral'. Nathanson said the company's theme park business in particular is vulnerable to successive waves of infection in the absence of a proven cure.
On a largely quiet day for economic data, the figure of most note was that U.S. factory goods orders dropped by 10.3%, marginally worse than the 9.7% expected but not enough to shock a market that has supped full of data horrors over the last month.
Elsewhere, Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) stock, which had threatened to 'go parabolic' before the pandemic struck, fell by 7.4% after the company controlling shareholders filed to sell their stake of just under 60% at a maximum price of $17.52. The company will receive no proceeds from the sale.
Elsewhere, U.S. crude oil futures hit their highest level since the debacle on the expiry day for the May futures contract, rising 2.8% to $20.34 a barrel by 4:10 PM. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX), both of whom announced lower production guidance on Friday, both outperformed. Exxon stock rose 0.8%, while Chevron stock was flat.