Dow drops 500 points, stocks at session lows after Powell

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday, with major indexes dropping to their lows of the session in afternoon trading in a broad decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.68% fell 2% to 24,007. The S&P 500 SPX, -2.45% was down 1.7% to 2,617. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -2.39% lost 1.7%. The day's losses were wide enough to push all three into negative territory for the week. At current levels, the Dow is down 0.4% while the S&P has lost 0.9% this week. The Nasdaq has shed 1.6%. Wall Street has been in sharply negative territory all day, pressured after President Donald Trump proposed fresh tariffs against China, in what was seen as another escalation of trade tensions between the two countries. A weaker-than-expected jobs report also pressured positive sentiment. Separately, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell backed a "patient" approach to raising interest rates, which he said had reduced the risk of "an unforeseen blow to the economy." All 30 Dow components were in negative territory, as were all 11 S&P 500 industry sectors. Among the biggest decliners of the day, Caterpillar Inc. CAT, -4.00% lost 3.7% while Boeing Co. BA, -3.52% dropped 3.1%.