US: Stocks fall again; UPS, Under Armour plunge

[NEW YORK] US stocks dropped early Tuesday due to anxiety over the emerging immigration and trade policies from the Trump administration and some ugly earnings reports from UPS, Under Armour and others.

The retreat was a continuation of Monday's action, when President Donald Trump's controversial order late last week to bar US entry to travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries sparked anxiety in global markets. Then Trump economic advisor Peter Navarro on Tuesday bashed Germany for exploiting an undervalued euro to take advantage of its trading partners.

Analysts said disappointing earnings also were major factor in Tuesday's decline. Apple was down 0.4 per cent ahead of earnings report after the market closes.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 19,882.93, down 0.4 per cent.

The broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.3 per cent to 2,273.45, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.4 per cent to 5,104.00.

Sports apparel and shoe company Under Armour plunged 24.8 per cent after reporting earnings that missed expectations and announcing that chief financial officer Chip Molloy was leaving the company due to personal reasons.

UPS dropped 6.6 per cent after reporting a fourth-quarter loss of US$239 million. The package delivery giant cited "the continued softness in industrial production" as a drag.

AFP