U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Thursday as news that President Donald Trump would propose trade duties on China imports stoked fresh fears about a potential trade war between two of the world’s largest economies that could impede domestic economic expansion in roughly its ninth year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 340 points, or 1.3%, at 24,375, while the S&P 500 index was off 1.2%. The Nasdaq Composite Index traded 1.3%% at 7,253. Technology shares led losses on Thursday, as investors grapple with the Federal Reserve’s policy update from Wednesday, in which the central bank lifted rates by a quarter-point to a range of 1.50% and 1.75%, but signaled that it might be more aggressive in lifting rates in the coming years. On trade, The Trump administration plans to release a package of proposed punitive measures aimed at China that include tariffs on imports worth at least $30 billion. Shares of Facebook fell sharply, extending a downtrend, as its user-information problems continued, even after CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to media outlets to apologize for the social network’s recent missteps.
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