US stock indices fell collectively at the end of trading on Friday, recording losses throughout the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.9%, losing 878 points, to close at 45,479 points, with a weekly loss of 2.7%.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed today's session down 2.7%, or 182 points, at 6,552 points, with losses over the week of more than 2.4%.
The Nasdaq Composite Index closed down 3.6%, or 820 points, at 22,204, marking a weekly loss of more than 2.5%.
This comes as the US government shutdown continues, pushing investors towards safe-haven assets.
US President Donald Trump said today that China has become very hostile, indicating that he sees no reason to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, scheduled to be in South Korea in two weeks.
The US president added on his Truth Social platform that he would be forced to launch a financial counterattack against China's restrictions on rare earths, noting that one option on the table was to impose massive tariff increases on Chinese goods entering the United States.
Trump noted that China is sending messages to countries around the world stating that it plans to impose export controls on every component of production related to rare earth minerals.
The US president said in his post: No one has ever seen anything like this before, but this will disrupt markets and make life difficult for almost every country in the world, especially China.
He added that he did not speak to the Chinese president because there was no reason to do so.
The US president's remarks come amid renewed escalation of economic tensions between the United States and China, particularly as a potential meeting with his Chinese counterpart approaches on the sidelines of an Asian summit in South Korea in two weeks.
