Dow sinks nearly 400 points, with blue-chip gauge on the brink of worst day in 2 months

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading near its low midday Monday, with investors shaking off early optimism around a possible U.S.-China trade agreement being forged soon. The Dow was most recently off 377 points, or 1.5%, at 25,665. A drop for the Dow of greater than 302 points would represent the steepest decline since a 660-point slide on Jan. 3, according to FactSet data. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was down 1.2% at 2,770, while the Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 1.2% at 7,505. Markets had opened solidly higher after the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Beijing and Washington were in the final stages of completing a trade deal after yearlong disagreement. At Monday's peak, the Dow gained as many as 130 points, the S&P was up 13 points, and the Nasdaq had climbed 48 points.

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