Markets plunge as China announces retaliatory tariffs

Markets mostly fell on Monday.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.9 percent, the S&P 500 plunged 2.2 percent and the Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.7 percent.

Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.3 percent while European markets were closed.

Oil also fell. West Texas Intermediate crude plunged 3 percent while Brent fell 2.5 percent.

The market falls come after China announced retaliatory tariffs on US goods.

Hank Smith, chief investment officer at Haverford Trust Co, remarked that “it seems like the trade issue is escalating into bite and not just bark”.

Also weighing on stocks was the view that the market is still too expensive.

At the release of RBC Capital’s latest investor survey, Lori Calvasina, the firm’s head of equity strategy, reported that just 16 percent of respondents saw stocks as attractive while 43 percent saw them as expensive/very expensive. “Investors don’t see attractive valuations,” said Calvasina.