US: Stocks fall on revived Trump trade war worries

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks fell on Friday (May 23) on renewed trade war fears as US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats offset improvements in the US bond market.

Trump threatened 25 per cent tariffs on Apple and other smartphone manufacturers whose devices are not built in the United States.

The president also vowed to slap a 50 per cent tariff on imports from the European Union, citing a lack of progress in trade negotiations with the bloc.

“Trump basically has renewed tariffs fears,” said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities. “It’s a down day.”

Major US indices spent the entire session in the red, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing down 0.6 per cent at 41,603.07.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.7 per cent to 5,802.82, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1 per cent to 18,737.21.

Trump’s latest tariff statements conclude a week in which trade issues had earlier taken a back seat to congressional debate on Trump’s sweeping tax cut measures.

The bill, which narrowly passed the House of Representatives on Thursday, now goes to the Senate.

US Treasury yields had spiked earlier in the week amid concerns the bill will increase US debt. But yields retreated on Friday in a sign demand for US issues had improved.

Among individual companies, Apple fell 3 per cent on Friday following Trump’s tariff threat. AFP