Stocks close lower; give up early gains as growth, trade fears intensify

U.S. stock benchmarks kicked off a holiday-shortened week with a day of losses after comments from President Trump over the weekend raised concerns that the U.S.-China trade spat will be protracted, while falling bond yields triggered concerns over flagging growth in the U.S. and abroad. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 237.92 points, or 0.9% to reach 25,347.77, the S&P 500 index lost 23.74 points, or 0.8% to 2,802.32 and the Nasdaq Composite index retreated 29.66 points, or 0.4% to 7,607.35. During a news conference Monday, President Trump said that "we're not ready to make a deal" with China, after he accused his negotiating partners of reneging on previously agreed to commitments. He also said that tariffs could go up "substantially" from here. Yields on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 6 basis points to 2.26%, a 19-month low, underscoring investor concern about global growth, fears that spread to equity markets Tuesday afternoon.

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