Wall Street slumps at open as trade war worries return

US stocks opened sharply lower on Monday after president Donald Trump, in a surprise move, threatened to hike tariffs on Chinese goods, reigniting fears of a global slowdown and upending a period of relative calm in markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 344.33 points, or 1.30 per cent, at the open to 26,160.62. The S&P 500 opened lower by 36.75 points, or 1.25 per cent, at 2,908.89.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 182.15 points, or 2.23 per cent, to 7,981.85 at the opening bell.

In a pair of tweets on Sunday, Mr Trump said that levies imposed on Chinese goods over the past year as part of the trade war with Beijing were “partially responsible for our great economic results” and had “little impact on product cost”.

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He added that the current 10 per cent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods would rise to 25 per cent on Friday, and that $325 billion of additional Chinese goods that were currently “untaxed” would “shortly” be subject to tariffs of 25 per cent.

“The Trade deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No!,” Mr Trump wrote.

- Reuters