Dow on correction path as China strikes back against US tariffs

(Reuters) - The Dow fell 10% from its record closing high in December, putting it on track to confirm a correction on Friday, after China retaliated with fresh tariffs a day after the Trump administration announced sweeping levies on trade partners.

A rout in global stocks continued as Beijing said it would slap additional tariffs of 34% on all U.S. goods, exacerbating worries that a trade war could stoke inflation, dent demand and tip the global economy into a recession.

President Donald Trump imposed a 10% tariff on most goods imported into the U.S. earlier in the week and much higher levies on dozens of rivals, especially China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped more than 10% to 39,548.12 points from its record closing high of 45,014.04 on December 4.

If the blue-chip index closes 10% or more below this level, it would be the final one among Wall Street's main indexes to confirm a technical correction based on a widely used definition.

The benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq confirmed they were in correction territory in March.

At 09:30 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 971.56 points, or 2.40%, to 39,574.37, the S&P 500 lost 130.30 points, or 2.44%, to 5,266.22 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 488.85 points, or 2.95%, to 16,061.76.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shounak Dasgupta)