Dow set for triple-digit losses, S&P and Nasdaq also down amid US-China trade tensions

US stock index futures plunged on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average expected to open about 200 points down. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are also pointing lower before the opening bell.

Losses sped up in pre-market trading after Hong Kong International Airport canceled all departures for the remainder of Monday after protesters flooded the air hub.

The large-scale protests in China’s self-governing territory, which are demanding broader political reform and the resignation of city officials, entered their tenth consecutive week over the weekend. The increasingly violent demonstrations of public anger have plunged the Asian financial hub into its most serious crisis in decades, with losses in profits amounting to billions.

Markets also suffered due to the escalation of the US-China trade war, with the Dow suffering a weekly loss of 0.75 percent. This followed US President Donald Trump’s remarks on Friday that he was not ready to make a deal with China for the time being. Trump also said the United States would not do business with Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies.

A White House official later explained that Trump was referring to a ban on government purchases of Huawei equipment, not requests for cooperation with Huawei by US companies. The latter are still under assessment.

Major stock indices suffered their worst days of the year on August 5 after China allowed its currency to break through the key seven-yuan-per-dollar level for the first time since 2008, prompting Washington to label Beijing a currency manipulator. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on Monday set its daily midpoint for yuan trading at 7.0211 per dollar. It was weaker than Friday’s session, but beat market expectations.

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