US STOCKS-Wall Street dragged down by Amazon, tech weakness

Mon, 02nd Apr 2018 15:30

* Tesla drops after saying crashed car was on autopilot

* Humana up after report Walmart discussing tie-up,acquisition

* Amazon falls after Trump again targets the online giant

* Indexes down: Dow 0.19 pct, S&P 0.67 pct, Nasdaq 1.18 pct(Updates to open)

By Sruthi Shankar

April 2 (Reuters) - A dreadful week for technology stocksworsened on Monday as Amazon and Tesla shares fell further,setting a grim tone for markets already worried about China'sdecision to raise import tariffs on U.S. products.

Amazon dropped as much as 3 percent after PresidentDonald Trump launched his latest attack over the pricing of theworld's biggest online retailer's deliveries through the U.S.postal system and promised unspecified changes.

The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and theNasdaq and weighed the most on the S&P consumerdiscretionary index, which fell 1.32 percent.

The Facebook data scandal, self-driving car crashes andTrump's intervention against Amazon pushed the S&P technologysector to post its worst monthly losses in nearly twoyears in March.

Facebook was down 1.7 percent on Monday, while theother FANG constituents like Netflix, Google-parentAlphabet were down between 2 percent and 3 percent.

Tesla shares shed more than 5 percent ahead of theelectric car maker's announcement of quarterly productionnumbers for its crucial Model 3 sedan.

China, late on Sunday, said it would increase tariffs by upto 25 percent on 128 U.S. products, escalating a spat betweenthe world's biggest economies. The move came in response to U.S.duties on imports of aluminum and steel.

"That's going to start stoking fears of trade wars andprotectionism. The market doesn't really like that," said AndreBakhos, managing director at New Vines Capital LLC inBernardsville, New Jersey.

"And if it escalates, the questions could be on if China isgoing to buy our bonds. We have speculation out there, but itcould be some profit taking and some risk-off mentality for themoment."

Trump is separately preparing to impose tariffs of more than$50 billion targeting "largely high-technology" Chineseproducts.

At 9:56 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average wasdown 46.7 points, or 0.19 percent, at 24,056.41.

The S&P 500 was down 17.81 points, or 0.67 percent,at 2,623.06 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 83.60points, or 1.18 percent, at 6,979.84.

Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with onlyutilities gaining.

Facebook was down as the data scandal last month continuedto weigh. On Monday, brokerage Pivotal Research slashed itsprice target, citing a faster-than-expected deceleration in thesocial media company's revenue growth.

Humana jumped about 7 percent after a report thatWalmart was in early-stage talks with the health insurerabout developing closer ties, with acquisition discussed as onepossibility. Walmart fell more than 2 percent.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE for a1.78-to-1 ratio and for a 2.03-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by SrirajKalluvila)