Wall Street falls on US-China tensions

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 23,900.59, down 1.8 percent.

Wall Street stocks opened sharply lower Friday on weakness in Amazon and Apple shares following earnings reports and tensions over blame for the coronavirus between China and the United States.

The Wall Street sign is pictured at the New York Stock exchange (NYSE) in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US. (REUTERS)

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 23,900.59, down 1.8 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.9 percent to 2,856.13, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also dropped 1.9 percent to 8,712.53.

Amazon and Apple, two of the biggest companies by market capitalization, both fell in the wake of results released after the closing bell Thursday.

Amazon dove 5.8 percent after the company cautioned that earnings in the second quarter would be entirely wiped out by expenses related to COVID-19 as it works to keep up with surging demand at a time when many brick-and-mortar stores are closed.

Apple shed 1.0 percent as it reported lower profits, with the pandemic hitting the iPhone maker on multiple fronts, disrupting its retail operations, suppliers in China and the finances of its customers.

The US president threatened tariffs on Beijing, escalating a blame game between the two biggest economies and reviving investors’ trade war worries.