NEW YORK (AFP) – Wall Street stocks plunged Monday after a forceful response by Beijing to the latest US tariff announcement escalated an ongoing trade war, exacerbating global growth worries. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 2.9 percent or around 770 points to 25,717.74 in the worst session of the year. The broad-based S&P 500 slumped 3.0 percent to 2,844.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 3.5 percent to 7,726.04. Stocks opened sharply lower after China's currency tumbled below 7.0 against the dollar, seen as a retaliatory step after US President Donald Trump announced last week he would impose 10 percent tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese imports. Stocks pushed lower following weak US services sector data and went lower still after Chinese state media reported that Chinese firms have stopped buying US farm produce. China's purchase decision means more pain for the US agricultural sector, which could hit the farm states that helped elect Trump in 2016. Analysts offered a range of views on whether Monday's moves by Beijing will lead to further tit-for-tat moves. As a result, Asian markets slumped in morning trade Tuesday, tracking global losses after Wall Street suffered its worst sell-off of the year as investors fretted over the US-China trade war. The outlook remained grim in Asia on Tuesday, when Tokyo opened nearly three percent lower before recovering to end the morning two percent down. Hong Kong stocks recovered slightly after opening sharply lower, going into the break 0.71 percent down. Shanghai and Sydney shed 2.6 percent. Manila and Wellington were also down around two percent. Although Chinese and US negotiators are set to reconvene in Washington in early September for another round of talks after last week’s discussions in Shanghai, investors are not expecting a reprieve in the near future, analysts said.