U.S. stocks closed sharply lower Monday, erasing significant gains from earlier in the session, as technology shares declined and as investors worried about the possibility of more U.S.-China tariffs. Bloomberg News reported that Washington is planning to impose tariffs on more Chinese products if upcoming talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping falter. Both countries already have imposed sanctions on billions of dollars' worth of each other's goods. In U.S. economic news, consumer spending rose for a seventh consecutive month on September, but income recorded its smallest gain in more than a year, and savings fell to their lowest level in nine months, suggesting the current pace of spending was unlikely to be sustained. The U.S. dollar rose modestly versus a basket of other currencies, and hit a 10-week high against the euro on news German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not seek re-election as head of her political party. Gold fell from a three-month high, pressured by the stronger dollar and as investors returned to riskier assets following a recent plunge in global stock markets. Futures dropped $8.20, or 0.7 percent, to $1,227.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 245.39, or 1 percent, to 24,442.92, briefly dropping into correction territory, or down 10 percent from a recent high. Fifteen of the index's 30 components declined, led by Boeing, which plunged 6.6 percent. Boeing lost 4.1 percent after announcing a $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat. Pharmaceuticals Merck and Pfizer led gainers, each advancing about 1.5 percent. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 17.44, or 0.7 percent, to 2,641.25, after advancing more than 1 percent earlier in the day. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 116.92, or 1.6 percent, to 7,050.29.
