Stock market down as US-China trade war grows

Markets closed sharply lower on Friday after the latest escalation of the U.S.-China trade dispute.

President Donald Trump said U.S. companies are “hereby ordered” to find an alternative to doing business with China after Beijing announced tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. goods.

The Dow Jones industrials sank 623 points, or 2.4%.

Bond prices soared, sending yields lower. The yield on the 10 year Treasury fell to 1.52%.

Technology companies, which have much to lose in the trade battle, fell the most. Apple dropped 4.6%.

Trump also said he was “ordering” UPS, Federal Express and Amazon to block deliveries from China of the opioid fentanyl. FedEx and UPS sank.

The S&P 500 fell 75 points, or 2.6%, to 2,847. The Nasdaq dropped 239 points, or 3%, to 7,751.

The developments mark the latest escalation of an ongoing trade dispute. The U.S. has said it would impose 10% duties on the $300 billion of Chinese goods that were not already subject to tariffs in two steps, On Sept. 1 and Dec. 15. Early Friday China said it would retaliate with taxes on $75 billion of U.S. products along the same timeframe.

The market opened lower with the news of the new tariffs. It recovered a bit after a widely anticipated speech by Jerome Powell where the chairman of the Federal Reserve gave no clear signal on when the central bank may cut interest rates again after a small cut last month.