NEW YORK, July 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Wednesday as trade tension between the United States and its major trading partners intensified.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 164.51 points, or 0.66 percent, to 24,755.15. The S&P 500 erased 14.97 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,778.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 37.45 points, or 0.48 percent, to 7,721.75.
The U.S. Trade Representative said Tuesday that Washington is preparing to impose 10 percent tariffs on another 200 billion U.S. dollars of Chinese imports.
The announcement came just days after the United States imposed 25 percent tariffs on 34 billion dollars of Chinese goods, which was reciprocated by China.
Shares of Caterpillar and Boeing, companies with high overseas revenue exposure, dropped 2.2 percent and 1.4 percent respectively in early trading.
As the latest corporate earnings season kicked off, investors began to turn their attention to earnings reports.
Overall, S&P 500 companies are expected to post second-quarter profit growth of around 21 percent, slightly higher than what was forecast in April, according to Thomson Reuters data.
J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are all scheduled to report later this week. Enditem
