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BCN-19
US-STOCKS-MARKETS-CLOSE
Wall Street sinks on fears for trade, global growth
NEW YORK, Feb 8, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US stocks on Thursday suffered their
biggest losses in more than two weeks as slashed European growth forecasts
and warnings on the US-China trade dispute sent Wall Street into the red.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9 percent, closing down
more than 220 points at 25,169.53.
The broader S&P 500 also lost 0.9 percent, finishing at 2,706.05. The
tech-heavy Nasdaq fell furthest, slipping 1.2 percent to settle at 7,288.35.
With three weeks remaining in a trade truce between Washington and
Beijing, the White House said Thursday there remained a “sizeable distance”
between the two sides.
US duties on $200 billion in Chinese imports are due to rise sharply after
March 1, a prospect dreaded by markets.
President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow caused losses
to deepen saying the countries have a long way to go in the talks still.
Stocks had already lost ground after the European Commission slashed its 2019
economic growth forecasts.
And Trump — who had announced last week he expected to seal a final deal
on trade at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping — said
Thursday the meeting would not take place before tariffs were due to rise.
Trump’s remarks added “fuel to the fire,” William Lynch of Hinsdale
Associates told AFP, noting that corporate profits were not helping matters.
“We still have earnings season and some of the reports I saw earlier today
were not all that good, for the most part they missed earnings estimates,” he
said.
“Some of the guidance have left a lot to be desired.”
Twitter plunged 9.8 percent after quarterly results showed a shrinking
global user base.
But SunTrust soared 10 percent and BB&T rose 3.9 percent after the
midsized banks announced plans for a $66 billion merger, creating the sixth-
largest US bank.
BSS/AFP/HR/0955