REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 572.46 points, or 2.34 percent, to 23,932.76, the S&P; 500 .SPX lost 58.37 points, or 2.19 percent, to 2,604.47 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 161.44 points, or 2.28 percent, to 6,915.11. The S&P; 500 industrials index .SPLRCI, down 2.7 percent, had the biggest losses among sectors, though selling was broad-based. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 565.49 points, or 2.31 percent, to 23,939.73, the S&P 500 lost 53.08 points, or 1.99 percent, to 2,609.76 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 134.34 points, or 1.9 percent, to 6,942.21. The biggest worry for investors is that an escalating trade war will derail a global economy that has gotten to a point where it’s largely growing in unison. US President Donald Trump yesterday ramped up his trade war rhetoric with China, seeking $100 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese products

US President Donald Trump yesterday ramped up his trade war rhetoric with China, seeking $100 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese products. The United States expressed willingness to negotiate a resolution to the trade dispute with China after Beijing retaliated against proposed U.S. tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods by targeting key American imports. Nonfarm payrolls probably increased by 193,000 jobs last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists, lower than the 313,000 increase in February and the 242,000 average of the past three months. The dollar had touched its highest levels against the yen in three weeks in the overnight session amid improved investor confidence on Thursday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index dipped 0.4 percent while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.3 percent but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.1 percent after trading resumed following a holiday as investors caught up with the previous day’s global gains.
U.S. stocks drop by about 2 percent in light of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff statement yesterday concerning Chinese imports.