Dow slumps 250 points after Trump cancels N. Korea summit

Washington  :  US stocks fell sharply on Thursday after President Donald Trump cancelled a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un scheduled to be held in June.

The meeting would have been the first face-to-face encounter between a sitting US President and a North Korean leader.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 250 points after the announcement, with Goldman Sachs and Boeing leading the index lower. The S&P 500 fell 0.9 per cent as a continued drop in oil prices and bond yields dragged down energy and financial stocks respectively.

The Nasdaq composite fell 0.9 per cent amid losses in Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Intel.

"Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting," Trump wrote in the letter, which was released in the morning.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.1 per cent while the Stoxx Europe 600 traded down 0.5 per cent, with shares of BMW and Volkswagen each down more than 2 per cent.

Trump's letter included a mix of both friendly and threatening language, including praise for North Korea's recent release of three American prisoners and a warning about the size of the US nuclear arsenal.