By CCN: The Dow resumed its excruciating downward spiral on Thursday after President Trump broke from White House talking points to ramp up the trade war rhetoric and further inflame US-China tensions ahead of high-stakes negotiations between the economic superpowers.
Trump Sends Dow into 300 Point Tailspin
The US stock market stumbled toward another putrid loss, with all three major indices suffering steep losses at the opening bell.
By 9:50 am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had plunged 302.54 points or 1.17%, reducing the DJIA to 25,664.79. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fared even worse, plummeting 1.2% to 2,844.73 and 1.45% to 7,827.94.
The Dow suffered a brutal 300 point collapse on Thursday. | Source: Yahoo Finance
The trigger for that painful sell-off? More bombastic comments from Donald Trump.
Speaking at a rally on Wednesday evening, Trump told a crowd of his raucous supporters that Beijing “broke the deal” and will “be paying” when the US slaps enhanced tariffs on Chinese goods on Friday morning.
President Trump on China: “By the way, you see the tariffs we’re doing? Because they broke the deal! So they’re flying in, the vice premier tomorrow is flying, good man, but they broke the deal. They can’t do that. So, they’ll be paying.” pic.twitter.com/8uhKZHOeWE
— The Hill (@thehill) May 9, 2019
“By the way, you see the tariffs we’re doing? Because they broke the deal. They broke the deal,” Trump said. “So they’re flying in, the vice premier tomorrow is flying in — good man — but they broke the deal. They can’t do that, so they’ll be paying.”
Trump’s aggressive tone seemed to contradict his earlier claim that China intended to “make a deal” when a delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He arrived in Washington on Thursday.
CCN reported at the time that those comments were a gamble meant to stem the Dow’s bleeding, and it appears Trump’s chickens are quickly coming home to roost.
‘Zero’ Chance US & China Strike Trade Deal on Thursday
Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times, cited a source close to the Chinese negotiators who said there was now “zero” chance that Washington and Beijing arrive at a deal before those tariffs kick in at 12:01 am ET on Friday.
Today, I asked one from Chinese side who knows the trade talks well, how many possibilities there still are to reach a deal before Friday. His answer is: 0. If it is that bad, the real suspense is whether the two sides will continue negotiations after Friday.
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) May 9, 2019
China’s government already vowed to retaliate against any tariff increase, seemingly setting the stage for a rapidly-escalating trade war that could set back negotiations even further as Washington and Beijing play a game of economic chicken.
Dow Would Plummet 15% if Trade Talks Break Down
Trump’s inflammatory trade war commentary has already pummeled China’s stock market – the SSE Composite slid 1.48% on Thursday – but Wall Street analysts warn that cooling negotiations could hamstring US stocks as well.
Trump’s inflammatory trade war rhetoric has punished Chinese stocks over the past week. | Source: Yahoo Finance
According to UBS, the Dow risks a 15% percent correction if trade talks break down.
Goldman Sachs predicted that nine of the DJIA’s 30 members would suffer disproportionate losses, including Coca-Cola, Exxon Mobil, Intel, Boeing, Chevron, and Pfizer.
Conversely, Apple, Visa, and Walt Disney should weather a trade war without much difficulty.
These 9 Dow Stocks Will Crash if Trump’s Trade Deal Bombs: Goldman Sachs https://t.co/yqY6qXMDFt
— CCN.com (@CCNMarkets) May 9, 2019
Click here for a real-time Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX: .DJI) price chart.