Major US stock indexes finished trading in the red

Major US stock indexes fell moderately, as China signaled a further escalation of the trade war with the US, which heightened fears that the dispute between the two largest economies in the world could drag out and put pressure on global growth.

The Xinhua news agency reported that China is ready to use rare earth metals, a group of 17 elements widely used in many industries - from high-tech consumer electronics to military equipment - to put pressure on the US in a trade war.

In addition, the Chinese Huawei Technologies Co Ltd filed a petition for a simplified review of its claim to the US government, demanding to recognize the unconstitutional and reject the State Defense Act 2019 (NDAA), prohibiting federal agencies to buy Huawei products that threaten to oust it from world markets.

Fears of a global recession have pushed investors to sell stocks in global stock markets and switch to debt obligations in Germany and the United States. This led to the fact that the yield on 10-year US government bonds fell to its 20-month lows, and the yield curve of three-month and 10-year bonds was inverted, which is usually regarded as a leading indicator of recession.

Almost all the components of DOW finished trading in the red (27 out of 30). Johnson & Johnson (JNJ; -4.37%) was an outsider. The growth leader was Intel Corp. (INTC; + 1.60%).

All sectors of the S & P recorded a decline. The largest decline was shown by the health sector (-0.9%).

At the time of closing:

Dow 25,126.41 -221.36 -0.87%

S & P 500 2,783.02 -19.37 -0.69%

Nasdaq 100 7,547.31 -60.04 -0.79%