Stocks Ended Sharply Lower on Escalation in U.S.-China Trade War

U.S. stocks ended sharply lower on Friday, after President Donald Trump wrote in a series of Twitter posts that he would be ordering U.S. companies to “immediately start looking for an alternative” to their business operations in China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 623.34 points, or 2.37%, to 25,628.90. The S&P 500 lost 75.84 points, or 2.59%, to 2,847.11. The Nasdaq Composite lost 239.62 points, or 3.00%, to 7,751.77.

Oil dropped on Friday, prompting a weekly loss of more than 1% for the U.S. benchmark, after China announced it would impose retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion worth of imports from the U.S., including a levy on crude, amplifying concerns about the global economy and demand prospects. October West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.18, or 2.1%, to settle at $54.17 a barrel. October Brent crude shed 58 cents, or 1%, to $59.34 a barrel.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Friday morning that the U.S. economy is in a “favorable place” but faces “significant risks” at the moment. In his first public remarks since cutting interest rates for the first time since 2008, Powell reiterated that the Fed is committed to doing what it needs to do in order to “sustain the expansion.”