US stock indices declined sharply on Monday amid escalating US-China trade war and on possibility of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s removal by President Donald Trump.

At 12:51 PM EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.60%, the S&P 500 lost 2.70%, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.03%.

At 11:46 AM EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.69%, the S&P 500 lost 2.81%, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.15%.

At 10:40 AM EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.86%, the S&P 500 lost 1.9%, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.29%.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 236.2 points, or 0.60%, to 38,906.04. The S&P 500 fell 49.8 points, or 0.94%, to 5,232.94​, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 233.7 points, or 1.43%, to 16,052.764.

On Thursday, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said that Trump is studying whether he’s able to fire Powell.

The comments have sparked concerns about the US central bank’s independence.

China on Monday warned other countries negotiating trade deals with the United States “at the expense of China’s interest” as Japan, South Korea and other nations try to negotiate agreements with the world’s largest economy.

“If this happens, China will never accept it and will resolutely take countermeasures in a reciprocal manner,” China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.38% from 4.34% om Friday.

The US dollar fell against the euro, Japanese yen, the Swiss franc and other currencies.

Gainers and Losers

Netflix shares climed 2.7% after the OTT company posted better than expected results.

Tesla stock tumbled 4.4% on criticism that its price had gone too high and that its brand has become too entwined with Elon Musk, who’s leading the US government’s efforts to cut spending.

AI-chip giant Nvidia’s shares declined 3.9% after a media report said that Huawei Technologies planned to begin mass shipments of an advanced AI chip to customers in China as early as next month.

Bullion

Gold prices climbed above $3,400 on Monday on the weaker US dollar and uncertainty over the economic impact of US-China trade tensions.

Spot gold rose 2.6% to $3,414.91 an ounce at 09:26 AM ET (1326 GMT).

US gold futures added 2.9% to $3,424.50.

Spot silver added 0.8% to $32.87 an ounce, platinum was down 0.6% at $961.63 and palladium slipped 3% to $933.02.

Crude oil

Oil prices fell more than 2% on Monday on signs of progress in talks between the US and Iran.

Brent crude futures slipped $1.54, or 2.3%, to $66.42 a barrel by 1230 GMT after closing up 3.2% on Thursday. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $63.10 a barrel, down $1.58, or 2.4%.