* Protectionist Navarro says he won't be new Trump econchief
* Industrials main sufferers on fears of global squeeze
* Indexes down: Dow 1.18 pct, S&P 0.77 pct, Nasdaq 0.46 pct(Updates to early afternoon)
By Sruthi Shankar
March 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes fell onWednesday as
The markets have been choppy, with the Dow falling more than300 points, following the exit of staunch free trade supporterGary Cohn from the White House.
"There is more of a political worry that has crept back intothe market," said Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist atNorthwestern Mutual Wealth Management.
"It's not just the tariffs, but the broader White Housechanging ... all those things are undercurrents which areaffecting market sentiment in the near-term."
Trump also stepped up pressure against
Markets trimmed losses after a Bloomberg interview in whichWhite House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who favors strongtariffs, said he was not a candidate to replace Cohn as Trump'schief economic adviser.
Cohn, the architect of a tax overhaul passed in December,was seen as a stabilizing force within the Trump administration.His departure is seen strengthening the hands of thoseadvocating a protectionist agenda.
A steep 2.5 percent drop in oil prices following data thatshowed
At 12:29 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Averagewas down 292.72 points, or 1.18 percent, at 24,591.4.
The S&P 500 fell 0.77 percent to 2,707.08 and theNasdaq Composite declined 0.46 percent to 7,337.86.
In contrast, the Russell 2000 index, which tracks
Worries over the threat to global trade that
Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters the White House wason track to announce tariffs by the end of this week.
Wednesday's losses were broad-based, but shares ofmanufacturing titans Boeing and Caterpillar werehit hard on worries about higher input costs and trade barriersoutside
Also contributing to the losses were a set of weak resultsand forecasts from Dollar Tree and Ross Stores.
Discount store operator Dollar Tree slumped 16 percent afterreporting disappointing holiday quarter results, while off-priceretailer Ross Stores fell 5 percent after its full-year profitforecast came in largely below expectations.
Exxon dropped 2.8 percent as investors weredisappointed about the company's decision not to announce ashare repurchase plan.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,798to 992. On the Nasdaq, 1,436 issues rose and 1,395 fell.(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by SrirajKalluvila)