Dow drops more than 600 points, at lows, as tariff-fueled tantrum gathers steam

The Dow Jones Industrial Average late-morning Friday was trading near session lows amid intensifying worries about trade conflicts between the U.S. and China. The Dow DOW, -0.16% was down 600 points, or 2.5%, at 23,892, the S&P 500 index SPX, -2.56% was off 2.2% at 2,604, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -2.44% traded about 2.20% lower at 6,928. The White House said in a statement after the market close Thursday that Trump has asked the U.S. Trade Representative to consider an extra $100 billion in Chinese goods to face tariffs and to identify the products that could be targeted, escalating protectionist trade tensions that market participants fear could disrupt global economies. U.S. equity markets fell in after-hours trade late Thursday after reports about Trump's comments emerged. Friday's downdraft also came amid a jobs report for March that produced a weaker-than-expected headline figure, showing the U.S. economy added just 103,000 jobs versus forecasts for a rise of 170,000. Still, the data showed the labor market remains the tightest in nearly two decades. Read: MarketWatch's stock-market column here