Investing.com – Stocks slumped on Friday as the U.S.-China trade dispute intensified and President Donald Trump announced he was ordering U.S. companies with China facilities to move them somewhere else.
The S&P 500 fell nearly 2%. The Dow Jones industrials were off about 1.9%, and the NASDAQ Composite was down 2.53%. The Nasdaq 100 Index, heavily influenced by some of the biggest names in technology, had dropped 2.74%.
The Dow had fallen as many as 589 points on the news before trimming some of its losses to 504 points.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), whose growth is tied to growth in its China business, was off nearly 4% and was the weakest Dow stock and eleventh-worst Nasdaq-100 performer. Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS), Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALXN) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) were the hardest-hit Nasdaq-100 stocks.
Boeing (NYSE:BA)was the lone Dow winner on the day. NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) and Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) were the sole Nasdaq gainers.
The Trump order, announced on Twitter and whose enforceability is likely questionable, came after China announced it would raise tariffs on a variety of U.S. products, including cars and farm products. He suggested U.S. manufacturers bring jobs back to the United States.
The order also came after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told a Jackson Hole, Wyo., conference Friday that the Fed stood ready to provide stimulus to the economy if needed. Trump didn't like the speech because it did not signal an aggressive interest-rate cut ahead and, in a tweet asked, "My only question is, who is our biggest enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?” Chairman Xi is Chinese president Xi Jinping.
The United States 10-YearTreasury yield fell to 1.528%, down from 1.61% on Thursday. The spread between the 10-year note and 2-year note widened to 1.07 basis points.