Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the United States, on June 25, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
U.S. stocks ended lower on Monday as market sentiment was dented by fears of escalating trade tensions between Washington and its major trade partners.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 328.09 points, or 1.33 percent, to 24,252.80. The S&P 500 was down 37.81 points, or 1.37 percent, to 2,717.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 160.81 points, or 2.09 percent, to 7,532.01.
The Dow dropped more than 490 points at the day's lowest, with Intel and Caterpillar among the worst performers on the index. Shares of Intel and Caterpillar slide 3.41 percent and 2.40 percent, respectively, at market closing. The blue-chip index reported nine negative results during the past ten trading sessions.
More than half of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed lower. The Nasdaq Composite was mainly dragged by the decline of Micron Technology and Netflix stocks. Shares of both companies sank more than 6 percent.
Investors also digested a batch of economic data.
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) was negative 0.15 in May, down from positive 0.42 in April, indicating slower economic growth in May, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Monday.
The CFNAI is a monthly index designed to gauge overall economic activity and related inflationary pressure. A zero value CFNAI indicates the national economy expanding at its average historical trend rate of growth, negative values indicate below average growth, and positive values above average growth.
Meanwhile, sales of U.S. single-family houses in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689,000, the Commerce Department said on Monday. The reading is 6.7 percent above the revised April rate of 646,000, beating the market consensus.
