Tech shares pull down US indexes on trade fears

Bloomberg

US stocks started the week lower, while Asian equities slumped and European shares gained, as investors grappled with the latest American threats to expand tariffs on Chinese goods. The dollar slipped and emerging-market currencies declined.
The S&P 500 Index was pulled down on Monday by technology companies including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Semiconductor stocks also slumped, and the Nasdaq 100 Index saw its biggest intraday drop in more than a week. Investors sought refuge in industrial and energy stocks including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Caterpillar Inc.
The outlook for global trade turned sour over the weekend. Shares in Hong Kong and China led declines in Asia on news that President Donald Trump instructed aides to proceed with tariffs on Chinese products. The US announced on Monday that it’s imposing a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods, which Beijing has already said it will retaliate against, according to three people familiar with the decision.
“Granted, the amount targeted by tariffs in terms of the US economy is pretty small, but there seems to be a willingness to go bigger and bigger and bigger by this administration,” Bill Barker, portfolio manager of the Motley Fool Small Mid-Cap Growth Fund, said by phone. “People have to kind of get used to it because there’s no indication I’m aware of that this is going to end.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index registered gains, with fashion store Hennes & Mauritz AB beating forecasts to help retailers outperform. Italian bonds rallied while other core European debt turned lower with US Treasuries. Sweden’s krona climbed versus major peers as Riksbank members warmed to higher rates.
Elsewhere, oil climbed, with investors eyeing the loss of supply from key OPEC members even as demand in emerging markets came under threat.
Emerging-market stocks weakened and their currencies were led lower by a slide in India’s rupee, South Korea’s won and Turkey’s lira.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in visits Pyongyang for a summit with Kim Jong Un Tuesday. Japanese trade-flow numbers are due on Wednesday. The Bank of Japan holds its policy meeting on Wednesday. Britain releases inflation data on Wednesday European PMIs are due on Thursday The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies meet in Algiers this weekend.
The S&P 500 Index fell 0.2 percent in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2 percent to the highest in almost two weeks. The UK’s FTSE 100 Index fell 0.1 percent. The MSCI Emerging Market Index sank 1.1 percent.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3 percent. The euro rose 0.6 percent to $1.169. The British pound gained 0.6 percent to $1.3143. The Japanese yen rose 0.1 percent to 111.94 per dollar. The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index declined 0.2 percent.