U.S stocks fell sharply at the opening bell on Wednesday as markets reacted to the resignation of White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, which was announced after the closing bell on Tuesday.
The Dow Jones industrial index opened 149 points lower than its Tuesday close, a 0.6 percent drop. The Nasdaq and Standard and Poor’s 500 indexes also fell by 0.4 and 0.8 percent each.
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Cohn, the former chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs, resigned Tuesday over President Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. He had been adamant in pushing against the tariffs, which have been panned by GOP lawmakers, Wall Street and U.S. trading partners.
While his resignation was not a huge surprise, it’s also being viewed as a sign of growing strength for trade skeptics in the administration who would like to reset the rules of the system.
U.S. futures trading previewed a rough Wednesday open. Dow futures were down 256 points or 1 percent just before trading began, while the Nasdaq and S&P were down 0.6 and 0.7 percent each.
Wednesday’s losses come after stocks had rallied a bit this week.
After a jumpy start Monday due partly to concerns about a looming trade war, U.S stocks closed with strong gains. The Dow closed 336 points higher, a 1.3 percent gain, while the Nasdaq and S&P also closed with 1 percent gains each.