The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged nearly 800 points Tuesday as investors remained skittish over uncertainties around U.S. trade policy with China, fueled by a morning tweet by President Trump. The meltdown battered most tech stocks but turned out to be a mixed bag for cable shares.
The Dow closed at 25,027.07 on Tuesday, down 799 points as enthusiasm waned concerning the 90-day tariff truce in the U.S.-China trade wars struck over the weekend, after President Trump tweeted “I am a Tariff Man.”
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Investors feared that animosity between the world’s two biggest economies could heighten, erasing any gains in the U.S. and rocking already shaky markets in Europe and Asia.
The so-called FAANG stocks — Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google — had a rough day Tuesday, dropping between 2% and 5% each, while cable stocks were down but declines were not as severe.
Facebook fared the best of the FAANG stocks, closing at $137.93, down about 2.2% ($3.16 per share) while Netflix closed at $275.33 per share Tuesday, down $14.97 each or about 5.2%. Amazon fell 5.9% ($103.96 each) to close at $1,668.40 per share and Google dropped 5% ($55.61 each) to close at $1,050.82 per share. Apple dipped 4.4% ($8.13) to $176.69 per share.
Cable stocks fared a bit better, with declines in the 1% to 3% range.
Comcast fell hardest in the sector — down 3.7% ($1.46) to $37.69 per share, while Charter Communications dipped 1.5% ($4.86) to $321.84 each. Liberty Global dipped 2.1% and Altice USA was down 1.3% for the day, while Cable One was the sole gainer, rising 0.5% ($4.35 each) to $866.62 per share.
AT&T was down 3.1% (98 cents) to $30.73 and Verizon was essentially even, closing at $58.13 per share Monday, down 3 cents each. Dish Network had the biggest decline in the satellite sector, dropping 4.4% ($1.46 each) to $31.93 per share.
On the programming side, broadcaster CBS had the biggest decline, falling 4% ($2.16) to $51.35 per share. The rest of the sector was down between 1% and 2% each, with The Walt Disney Co. closing at $112.94 (down 2.4%), AMC Networks closing at $57.06 (down 2.1%); Viacom finishing the day at $30.88 (down 1.9%) and 21st Century Fox priced at $49.12 (down 1.1%).
