Markets fall amid trade war fears and Fed rate hike expectations

Markets fell on Monday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.5 percent.

In Asia, the Chinese and Japanese stock markets were closed but the Hang Seng plunged 1.6 percent following a report that China had cancelled planned trade talks with the US.

Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank, said that a pullback was expected after US stock markets hit records last week. There is also “a fear that tariffs could bring the economy down” and “a near-certainty that the Fed will raise rates this week”.

Meanwhile, oil prices rose on Monday after major oil producers at a producer meeting over the weekend declined to commit to an additional increase in crude output to address expected supply disruptions.