Dow plunges 700 points

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 700 points Thursday after the arrest of a top Chinese executive exacerbated concerns about the U.S. trade war with China.

In addition to the Dow falling 2.8 percent, the S&P 500 also fell 2.6 percent and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2 percent, CNN reports.

The Dow has plunged more than 1,500 points over the past two days after having started off the week up 300 points thanks to the United States and China announcing a 90-day tariff ceasefire, reports CNBC. But President Trump subsequently warned China that if a "fair" trade deal between the two countries is not reached in that time, he would reimpose tariffs, dubbing himself a "Tariff Man."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Dow fell 800 points that afternoon, and matters were only made worse when Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested Thursday morning in Canada at the request of the United States. Experts say the already fragile trade truce could be upended by the move. "We think this will force China to take a more aggressive and confrontational approach with the U.S.," Brown Brothers Harriman's global head of currency strategy said of the arrest, per CNN.