Dow Jones sheds nearly 250 points on trade worries

US stocks slipped at the end of the first trading session of September, as Wall Street returned from a long weekend to renewed concerns over escalating trade tensions, which have dragged US manufacturing into its sixth straight month of contraction in August.

At Tuesday’s close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.55% (249 points) to 45,295. The S&P 500 lost 0.69% (44 points) to 6,415, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.82% (175 points) to 21,279.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 slipped 1.50% to 543, weighed down by a 0.63% decline in the autos sector. Germany’s DAX tumbled 2.29% to 23,487, France’s CAC 40 slid 0.70% to 7,654, and London’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.87% to 9,116.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.30% to 42,310, while the broader Topix rose 0.60% to 3,081.

On energy markets, Brent crude futures for November delivery climbed 1.45% (99 cents) to settle at $69.14 per barrel. US WTI crude for October delivery gained 2.47% ($1.58) to $65.59.

Gold futures for December delivery jumped 2.2% ($76.1) to $3,592.2 an ounce.

An ISM survey confirmed US manufacturing contracted for a sixth consecutive month in August, as tariff pressures continue to weigh on the sector.