Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Friday 2 March 2018
A25

Stocks dive after Trump promises tariffs on steel

action if Trump goes ahead sury note sank to 2.81 per-
with his plan. He vowed cent from 2.86 percent late
that “the EU will react firmly Wednesday.q
and commensurately to
defend our interests.”
Shares of U.S. steelmakers
surged on the tariff news.
U.S. Steel rose $2.50, or
5.7 percent, to $46.01. But
shares of companies that
use lots of steel fell, as did
exporters.
Industrial companies in the
S&P 500 fell 1.9 percent for
the sharpest loss among
the 11 sectors that make
up the index. Aerospace
giant Boeing lost $12.52, or
3.5 percent, to $349.69.
Stocks of smaller com-
panies, which tend to do
more of their business in the
United States and may not
Traders Michael Smyth, Andrew Silverman and Christopher Fuchs, left to right, work on the floor of feel as much pain from a
the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. stocks dove in another dizzying day of trading after President global trade war, held up
Donald Trump promised on Thursday to deliver stiff tariffs on imported steel and aluminum,
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) better than the rest of the
market. The Russell 2000
By STAN CHOE The S&P 500 is now up just pany, got 63 percent of its index of small-cap stocks
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. 0.2 percent for the year af- sales from outside the Unit- fell 5.06, or 0.3 percent, to
stocks dove in another diz- ter having its best January ed States in its latest fiscal 1,507.39. Bond prices rose
zying day of trading after in 20 years. year. European Commis- as demand jumped for
President Donald Trump The Dow Jones industrial sion President Jean-Claude safer investments, which
promised on Thursday to average dropped 420.22 Juncker said the European pushed yields lower. The
deliver stiff tariffs on import- points, or 1.7 percent, to Union will take retaliatory yield on the 10-year Trea-
ed steel and aluminum, 24,608.98, and the Nasdaq
which raised the threat of composite fell 92.45, or 1.3
escalating retaliation by percent, to 7,180.56.
other countries and higher As a candidate, Trump
inflation. The Standard & campaigned on an "Amer-
Poor's 500 index erased ica First" trade policy, and
nearly all of its gains for the a big fear for investors has
year. been that increasingly na-
Indexes had been bounc- tionalistic governments will
ing between modest gains impose barriers that hurt
and losses earlier in the the global economy and
day, until Trump told indus- trade, as well as profits for
try executives around mid- U.S. exporters. Apple, the
day that they'll "have pro- most valuable U.S. com-
tection for the first time in
a long while" and that he's
planning to impose tariffs of
25 percent on steel imports
and 10 percent on alumi-
num imports next week.
"I don't know if this will cause
a trade war, and obviously
that's the fear," said Lamar
Villere, portfolio manager
at investment manager Vil-
lere & Co. "But this is exactly
what candidate Trump said
he would do: He said he
would be very protectionist
and America First."
The Standard & Poor's 500
index tumbled 36.16 points,
or 1.3 percent, to 2,677.67.
It's the third straight day
where the index has lost at
least 1 percent. It had only
four such days last year.