Market Tanks -- and Uber and FAANG Stocks Fall -- After China's Trade Retaliation
President Trump may be comfortable with tariffs and trade wars, but investors aren't.
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Stock prices fell hard today after China announced retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of American exports to the country today. Higher U.S. tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports when into effect last Friday. The market, clearly expecting a trade agreement between the world's two biggest economies, had its worse day since early January. With a trade deal now looking less likely, investors are fleeing risk.
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Thetechnologysector was hit hardest, dragging the Nasdaq Composite index down 3.41 percent. The Dow, down more than 700 points in the morning, fell 617 points on the day or 2.38 percent. The S&P 500 index declined 2.41 percent. TheEntrepreneur Index™fell 2.91 percent with only three stocks out of sixty posting gains.
The bond market also raised a red flag. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond fell more than five basis points to 2.4 percent today, putting it below the 2.41 percent yield on the 3-month Treasury bill. Such yield curve inversions -- when long-term interest rates are less than short-term -- usually signal a coming economic slowdown or recession.
It's too early to call it a busted IPO but life as a public company has gotten off to rocky start for Uber Technologies. Shares in the ride-sharing company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday and have already fallen 17 percent. Shares in Lyft, Uber's biggest competitor, have fared even worse, down 35 percent since the company's IPO in late March.
The rest of the tech sector has also been slammed in the last two days. The four FAANG stocks on the index were all down more than 2.5 percent today.Netflix(-4.37 percent) andFacebook(-3.61 percent), had the biggest losses.Twitterwas down 4.84 percent and software-makersalesforce.comfell 4.25 percent. The two chipmakersNVIDIACorp. andAnalog Devices, often the most sensitive to shifts in economic sentiment, were down 6.14 percent and 5.76 percent respectively.
Losses were large across all sectors of the market. The clothing makers and retailersGap Inc.(-6.65 percent),L Brands(-6.31 percent), andRalph Lauren Corp.(-4.82 percent), all fell sharply.Teslawas down 5.28 percent whileFord Motor Co.lost 2.89 percent. Drug-makersAlexion PharmaceuticalsandRegeneron Pharmaceuticalswere down 4.38 percent and 2.46 percent respectively.
Bed Bath & Beyondfell 4.31 percent after CEO Stephen Temares resigned from the company largely because of pressure from activist investors impatient with the retailer's turnaround efforts. The news actually sent the shares up in pre-market trading, but they fell with the rest of the market after the trade news hit.
Other major losses on the Entrepreneur Index™ today included casino-operatorWynn Resorts(-6.17 percent), investment bankJefferies Financial Group(-5.65 percent), and asset managersBlackRock(-4.37 percent), andFranklin Resources(-4.13 percent).
Only three stocks on the Entrepreneur Index™ had gains today. Cosmetic-makerEstee Lauder Companieswas up 0.46 percent and REITsExtra Space StorageandEquity Residentialwere up 1.64 percent and 0.01 percent respectively.
TheEntrepreneur Index™collects the top 60 publicly traded companies founded and run by entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial spirit is a valuable asset for any business, and this index recognizes its importance, no matter how much a company has grown. These inspirational businesses can be tracked in real time onEntrepreneur.com.
