U.S. stocks moved broadly lower in early trading Tuesday on Wall Street, putting the S&P 500 index at risk of ending an eight-day winning streak.
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Banks and industrial companies led the losses. General Electric fell 3.2%. Pentair plunged 12.4% after slashing its forecast. Citigroup fell 1.2%.
The early drop comes on the heels of The International Monetary Fund’s dour forecast for global economic growth. It now expects 3.3% global growth in 2019, matching the weakest year since 2009. The U.S. fares particularly poorly, with growth now expected at 2.3%, down from 2.9% in 2018.
The IMF report landed in a busy week for investors. The U.S. Federal Reserve will release minutes from its latest policy meeting on Wednesday and The European Central Bank will also meet Wednesday.
The latest round of corporate earnings reports will kick off on Wednesday with Delta Air Lines. Several banks, including JPMorgan Chase, will release their first-quarter results on Friday.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 fell 0.5% as of 10:28 a.m. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179 points, or 0.7% to 26,127 points, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%.
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TRADE TROUBLES: European markets gave up early gains and turned broadly lower after the U.S. threatened to impose $11.2 billion of tariffs on European products, including cheese, wine and helicopters. The move would escalate a global trade war at the same time the U.S. is trying to resolve a trade dispute with China.
The threat from President Donald Trump could make investors even more concerned about trade disputes hurting an already slowing global economy. The latest tariff threat would punish the European Union for subsidizing plane maker Airbus, which competes with U.S.-based Boeing.
The spat between the U.S. and China has already made a list of goods more expensive for consumers and is weighing on an already slowing Chinese economy. Negotiators met again last week and both sides have said they are making progress toward some kind of resolution.
DEAL ME OUT: Wynn Resorts fell 3.7% after the casino operator pulled out of a potential buyout of Australia’s Crown Resorts. The company cited the “premature disclosure of preliminary discussions” as the reason. The move would have given Wynn a wider global reach.
