Markets fall on concerns over trade and corporate earnings

Markets fell on Monday.

The S&P 500 declined 0.5 percent, the STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.5 percent and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.7 percent.

Market sentiment was hit by weak Chinese trade data released early on Monday. Imports dropped by 7.6 percent in December while exports fell 4.4 percent.

Also possibly weighing on markets are concerns for corporate earnings. S&P 500 earnings are estimated to have grown 14.5 percent in the final quarter of 2018, the slowest since the third quarter of 2017, and sharply lower than the 28.4 percent rise in the third quarter.

“Analysts have been backpedaling earnings expectations faster than usual in the run-up to the Q4 releases,” said Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group, in a note.