Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all just had their worst day of the year
America's three top stock indexes are having a very bad day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq Composite, and S&P 500 all saw their biggest percentage drops of 2019 on Monday, following a string of declines that started Thursday. The drops all came after President Trump instilled new tariffs on China, and after China responded by devaluing its currency Monday morning to its weakest level in a decade.
Throughout the day, the Dow at certain times dipped more than 800 points, and closed down 767 points at the end of the day for a 2.9% drop. The tech-heavy Nasdaq meanwhile closed down 278 points, or 3.5%, and the S&P 500 went down a total of 87 points, or 3%.
The U.S. and China have been locked in a trade war for months as the two countries continually levy more tariffs on each other. But China changed up its retaliation on Sunday by letting its currency weaken past the point of 7 to the American dollar and directly blamed the move on Trump. That plunged Wall Street into fears of even more U.S. tariffs, and worries that the trade war escalating into a currency war — something that was reflected in Monday's unilateral drops, CNN reports.