Markets Dip Amid Trade Uncertainty, Dow Sheds 245 Points

U.S. stocks fall as Trump's tariff threats stir volatility; Nvidia dips post-earnings, housing and utility stocks slump while gold stocks rise.

The Dow declined 244.95 points or 0.6 percent to 42,098.70, the Nasdaq fell 98.23 points or 0.5 percent to 19,100.94 and the S&P 500 slid 32.99 points or 0.6 percent to 5,888.55.

President Donald Trump's trade policies are uncertain due to which the traders are on side lines following recent volatility. Trump's threat to impose 50 percent tariffs on imports from the European Union triggered a steep drop by stocks last Friday only for his decision to delay the proposed tariffs to spark the rally on Tuesday.

Nvidia?s shares decreased by 0.5% after it?s release of fiscal first quarter results. Housing stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 2.4 percent. Utilities stocks are considerably weak , as reflected by the 1.6 percent loss posted by the Dow Jones Utility Average. Steel, oil producer and transportation stocks moved downwards while gold stocks moved higher despite a modest decrease by the price of the precious metal.

Asia-Pacific stocks turned in a mixed performance. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and China's Shanghai Composite Index closed just below the unchanged line, while South Korea's Kospi surged by 1.3 percent. The major European markets all moved to the downside on the day while the German DAX Index slid by 0.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index decreased by 0.5 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries gave back ground after moving notably higher over the past few sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, climbed 4.3 bps at 4.47 percent.

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