The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit its lowest levels of Thursday, with less than an hour left in trade, following a report that President Donald Trump would impose tariffs on $200 billion in China imports. The report from Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, says that the imposition of tariffs could come as soon as next week. Although tariffs against Beijing had been expected, investors may still be rattled by the suggestion that negotiations between the two economic superpowers may still be hard fought toward a resolution, if one can be reached. The Dow DJIA, -0.61% was down 180 points, or 0.7%, at 25,948, losing ground on the psychologically significant level of 26,000 that the benchmark had reached earlier this week. The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.52% fell 0.6% at 2,897, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.33% declined 0.4% at 8,076. U.S. benchmarks had hit repeated gains and all-time highs this late-week in August partly on the back of progress between the U.S. its partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico and Canada. By China has been seen as a tougher task. Worries about trade also come as Wall Street is fretting about problems in emerging markets, with both the Turkish lira USDTRY, +2.8975% and Argentina's peso USDARS, +13.9746% falling sharply against greenback and raising the specter or EM spillover.
Have breaking news sent to your inbox. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Bulletin emails. Sign up here.