Trade fears sink US stocks as China ups duties on American edibles; gold shines

U.S. stocks are tumbling Monday shortly after noon EST after China raised import duties on U.S. pork, apples and other products. Tyson Foods is among the biggest losers on Wall Street. Investors are also dumping some of their recent favorites, including retailers like Amazon and technology companies such as Microsoft. Investors are also dumping some of their recent favorites, including retailers like Amazon and technology companies such as Microsoft. [caption id=“attachment_4415691” align=“alignleft” width=“825”]  Traders react as stocks sink during Monday trading on Wall Street/ REUTERS[/caption] Tesla dropped 5.7 percent after saying the vehicle in a fatal crash last week in California was operating on Autopilot mode. Health insurer Humana jumped 4.9 percent on continued reports Walmart might buy the company or announce a new partnership with it. The S&P 500 fell 59 points, or 2.3 percent, to 2,581. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 476 points, or 2 percent, to 23,624. The Nasdaq composite gave up 190 points, or 2.7 percent, to 6,872. U.S. markets were closed Friday for the Good Friday holiday. Before that, the S&P 500 rose 2 percent last week in choppy trading. The benchmark index lost 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2018 following nine straight quarters of gains. China raised import duties on a $3 billion list of U.S. goods in response to a new U.S. tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. A bigger dispute looms over Trump’s approval of possible higher duties on Chinese goods. Investors are worried that increasing tensions over trade could slow down global commerce and hurt corporate profits. China’s latest step is just one point of contention between China and Washington, Europe and Japan over a state-led economic model they complain hampers market access, protects Chinese companies and subsidizes exports in violation of Beijing’s free-trade commitments. Meanwhile the U.S., Canada and Mexico continue to hold talks about potential changes to NAFTA. The price of gold climbed 1.1 percent to$1,341.70 an ounce and silver jumped 2.1 percent to $16.61 an ounce as some investors took money out of stocks and looked for safer investments.