Stocks took a beating Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping 723 points amid worsening fears of a trade war. The drop came as President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on nearly $60 billion worth of Chinese goods. Trump insists the tariffs stop other countries from taking advantage of America.
After a wild session on Wednesday, stocks closed sharply higher as Wall Street erased massive losses earlier that came after China's announcement of new tariffs on U.S. goods sparked fears of a trade war, CNBC reported.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed 230.94 points higher at 24,264.30, rallying more than 700 points from its session low. Microsoft and IBM were the best-performing stocks in the index.
The S&P 500 erased a 1.6 percent decline to finish the session 1.2 percent higher at 2,644.69, led by gains in consumer stocks. The broad index also closed back above its 200-day moving average, a key technical level. The Nasdaq composite closed 1.5 percent higher at 7,042.11 after plunging as much as 1.9 percent.
