Stocks stumble, oil dives deeper into bear market

A
trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange moments
before the closing bell on June 1, 2009 in New York City. Despite
the news of General Motors Corp.�s bankruptcy filing, the Dow
closed up over 200 points following positive economic news for
U.S. manufacturing, consumer and construction
spending.
Spencer
Platt/Getty

• Wall Street fell Friday as weaker than expected economic data
  added to concerns about oil prices, which entered a bear market
  on Thursday.
• China reported weakening auto and manufacturing data
  overnight.
• Follow US stocks in real time
  here.

Stocks stumbled Friday as worries
about slowing economic growth weighed on Wall Street, with energy
and high-flying technology companies among the biggest
losers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average
fell 0.87%, or more than 200 points, and the S&P 500 was down
1.05%. The Nasdaq Composite shed 1.81% as Amazon, Facebook, and
Google-parent company Alphabet all slid. Meanwhile,
General Electric plummeted to its lowest point since the
financial crisis.

Oil prices continued to fall
sharply as rising inventories overshadowed energy sanctions
against Iran that took effect this week.

West Texas
intermediate

slid
deeper into a bear market, trading just over $60 a barrel, or
down more than 20% from recent highs.


Brent

, the
international benchmark, fell below $70 a barrel.

Not helping the mood, a series of
disappointing economic data came out in China overnight. Its
biggest auto industry association said
sales were down for a fourth month, sliding a steep 11.7% in
October. Meanwhile, government data showed
producer inflation also fell last month as manufacturing
activity slowed. The Shanghai Composite closed down 1.4% at
2,598.87.

Concerns about slowing growth
came against the backdrop of an ongoing trade dispute between the
US and China, which has resulted in billions of dollars worth of
tariffs levied between the world’s two largest economies.

High-level delegations from the
two nations met Friday in Washington to discuss a range of
issues,

including trade and North
Korea

. Separately,
White House adviser Peter Navarro accused Wall Street executives
he called “globalist billionaires” of trying to interfere with
negotiations. President Donald Trump is expected to meet with
Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a multilateral summit in Argentina
later this month.

“No good can come of this. If
there is a deal, if and when there is a deal, it will be on
President Donald J. Trump’s terms, not Wall Street terms,”
Navarro said during a speech at the Center for Strategic &
International Studies,

according to
Reuters

.

The dollar jumped 0.27% against a
basket of currencies, and Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year
down 4.3 basis points to 3.189%. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve
kept its benchmark interest rate

steady at 2.25%

and signaled its fourth hike of
the year could come in December.