Jan 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes slid to a near three-week low on Tuesday, as investors were spooked by fresh tariff threats from President Donald Trump against Europe amid a dispute over control of Greenland.
U.S. traders came back from a market holiday to a risk-off wave already in motion, pushing gold to fresh record highs, dragging stocks lower across the globe and leaving U.S. Treasuries wobbling under renewed selling pressure.
Trump said on Saturday additional 10% import tariffs would take effect on February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain — all already subject to tariffs imposed by the U.S.
The tariffs would increase to 25% on June 1 and would continue until a deal was reached for the U.S. to purchase Greenland, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. Leaders of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, and Denmark have insisted the island is not for sale.
"We're getting the weakness because the headlines are going to drive angst and concern about what the future holds," said David Lundgren, chief market strategist at Little Harbor Advisors.
"We're seeing a broadening away from the Mag 7 into small and mid-cap companies. And possibly, a broadening away from the U.S. to other markets overseas that have been underperforming."
On Tuesday, Trump marks one year back in office - a volatile period for markets that saw the S&P 500 plunge to near bear market territory following "Liberation Day" tariffs in April before rebounding to record highs on strong earnings and a resilient economy.
Critical Metals (CRML.O), which has a strategic presence in Greenland, rose 2%.
The CBOE Volatility index (.VIX), also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, touched a two-month high at 19.42 points.
At 09:39 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), fell 603.23 points, or 1.23%, to 48,752.19, the S&P 500 (.SPX), lost 89.62 points, or 1.29%, to 6,850.39 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), lost 367.72 points, or 1.56%, to 23,147.67.
JAM-PACKED WEEK OF DATA AND EARNINGS
Investors headed into a jam-packed week, with a slate of market-moving data such as the third-quarter U.S. GDP update, January PMI readings and the Personal Consumption Expenditures report, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.
Earnings season is also kicking into a higher gear. Several industry bellwethers, including Intel (INTC.O), Netflix and (NFLX.O), are set to report their quarterly earnings this week.
Netflix (NFLX.O), gained 2.1%, after switching to an all-cash offer for Warner Bros Discovery's (WBD.O), studio and streaming assets without increasing the $82.7 billion bid.
The streaming giant, due to report its quarterly earnings after the bell, was the only stock in the mega-cap 'FAANG' group of tech stocks - Meta, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google - to trade in the green.
Meanwhile, industrial giant 3M (MMM.N), fell 3% after it forecast annual adjusted profit slightly below Wall Street estimates.
Of the 33 S&P 500 companies that had reported as of Friday, 84.8% topped analysts' expectations, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Markets are also watching the potential for a Supreme Court decision tied to Trump's tariffs, alongside speeches by global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Among other stocks, RAPT Therapeutics (RAPT.O), soared 64% after Britain's GSK (GSK.L), agreed to buy the U.S. firm for $2.2 billion.
Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri
