Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

(Bloomberg) --

U.S. stocks plunged after China hit back at Trump, and Asian futures indicate the selloff is far from over. Uber’s skid continues and in the Philippines, Duterte’s allies lead the Senate vote. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.

Equity Plunge Continues 

U.S. stocks tanked after China retaliated to increased American tariffs with levies of its own, sending the Dow down 617 points. And the equity selloff looks likely to continue, Asian futures show. Treasuries pared gains a tad after Donald Trump said he'd meet Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in June, though 10-year yields were still down almost 7 basis points. The dollar rose against most of its major peers, but the yen and franc jumped on haven buying. Oil dropped and gold gained.

Targeting The Heartland 

Trump warned China against “substantial” retaliation. This after Beijing announced plans to raise duties to 25% on 2,493 U.S. goods, defying Trump's warning to resist escalating the trade war. The president predicted China would attempt to target U.S. farmers, a mainstay of the president's political support. Goldman says the spat will lead to inflation and a slowdown in the U.S. economy. Here's what banks think will happen in the U.S.-China negotiations, and here's how we got to this point.

Transatlantic Tensions

Transatlantic relations aren't too smooth at the moment, either. The EU is finalizing a list of American goods to target with retaliatory levies in the event that Trump imposes tariffs on car imports, trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom said. He's expected to make a decision by May 18.  Shares of European automakers have already been hit. Here’s our list of other industries doing business with China that could face further pain.

Duterte Allies Lead in Philippine Vote

Allies of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte are leading in an early count of the Senate vote, after the country’s citizens went to the polls on Monday to vote in elections covering more than 18,000 government positions, including half of the 24-seat Senate. Nine of Duterte’s allies are among 12 leading senatorial candidates, based on latest poll body data with 0.4% of the votes counted, in what the leader sees as an affirmation of his three-year administration. The vote was marred by hundreds of malfunctioning machines and dozens of arrests for suspected vote buying, although violence eased compared with the 2016 vote, police chief Oscar Albayalde said.

The Rideshare  Debacle

Uber's skid continued. Shares shed another 11% as investors questioned the size of the ride-hailing market, its ability to execute on food delivery, and its push into autonomous cars, according to Wedbush. Meanwhile, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi reminded  employees  that Facebook and Amazon also faced difficulties after listing. One place Uber has succeeded? Spawning offshoots. There are 34 companies created by former employees, many more than young Amazon, Google and Facebook produced.

What we've been reading

This is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours.

• Singapore steps in to save its aging public housing.
• Hong Kong's market resilience faces a big test with Tuesday’s open.
• A convenience store partnership in China threatened by partners’ royalty spat.
• Alibaba and Tencent earnings may offer a glimpse of China’s damage.
• This is how much you need to be wealthy in America.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Laura Yin at yyin26@bloomberg.net, Alyssa McDonald

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.