What's moving markets today: March 4, 2019

US markets closed lower Monday after a volatile day of trading that happened without any obvious indications as to why.

• The Dow fell 207 points, or 0.8%, after being up by as much as 130 points at the beginning of the day.
• The S&P 500 fell 0.4%, while the Nasdaq dropped 0.2%.
• UnitedHealth (UNH) was the Dow’s worst performer, falling 4%. McDonald’s (MCD) and Walgreens (WBA) each fell more than 2%.
• And Boeing (BA), the index’s biggest component, decreased 2%.

The Dow has wiped out its gains from earlier and is now down nearly 400 points.

• The Nasdaq is down 80 points, or 1%
• The S&P 500 is down 30 points, or 1%

It's unclear what's dragging the Dow lower, but these stocks are down significantly:

• Boeing (BA) is down nearly 3%
• United Healthcare (UNH) is down nearly 4%
• McDonald's (MCD) is down nearly 3%

Southwest Airlines (LUV) announced its flight service into Hawaii will debut in March, and that's created a decidedly gloomy outlook for one of the state's biggest carriers.

Hawaiian Airlines (HA) shares slid nearly 10% after its mainland rival announced its schedule with cheap introductory fares as low as $29 one way to three Hawaiian cities.

Southwest previously said it was going to start flights between California and Hawaii, but it also announced two inter-Hawaiian flights on Monday: Honolulu to Kahului and Honolulu to Kona.

Those routes are where Hawaiian typically dominates and has little competition.

WarnerMedia announced major changes now that it's officially under AT&T:

• Former NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt is joining WarnerMedia as the chairman of entertainment, which includes the networks of HBO, TNT, TBS, truTV, and the company's forthcoming streaming service.
• CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker will add oversight of Turner Sports, Bleacher Report and AT&T's regional sports networks.

"Major media companies are trying to challenge Netflix and today it's WarnerMedia moving executives around and bringing in Greenblatt to do that," Chief Media Correspondent Brian Stelter told First Move anchor Julia Chatterley.

Shares of Netflix (NFLX) are up 34% year-to-date and AT&T's (T) are up more than 6%.

Newmont Mining's board of directors has "unanimously determined" not to accept Barrick Gold's hostile takeover attempt.

Newmont CEO Gary Goldberg said it was going to continuing pursuing a merger with rival Goldcorp instead because it "represents the best opportunity to create value for Newmont’s shareholders and deliver industry-leading returns for decades to come."

• Barrick proposed a takeover last week for roughly $18 billion.
• Shares of Newmont Mining (NEM) are down 3%. Barrick Gold (GOLD) shares are down 1%.

The Dow rose 115 points Monday morning as Wall Street investors anticipated a trade deal between China and the United States.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Nasdaq was up 0.6%.

• Tesla (TSLA) shares rose 1% after the company announced it would unveil the Model Y later this month.
• Office Depot (ODP) shares were up 4% in early trading after it announced a "strategic collaboration" with Alibaba.
• Shares of Children's Place (PLCE) are down 10% after a dismal earnings report.

Office Depot (ODP) shares rose as much as 6% in early trading after it announced a "strategic collaboration" with Alibaba.com.

The retailer and the Chinese tech company have opened a new online store to help small and medium businesses in the United States sell their products online to Alibaba's global network.

Office Depot CEO Gerry Smith said the partnership will help business give them "an expanded set of products and services" to help them grow.

Alibaba (BABA) shares are up slightly.

Shares of Children's Place (PLCE) are down nearly 10% in early trading after a dismal earnings report:

The children's retailer had a rough fourth quarter and missed analyst's estimates on sales. It also predicts a weak year ahead. Children's Place also formally announced it's buying troubled rival Gymboree.

CEO Jane Elfers said the company is "challenged by a very late Easter" and the acquisition:

Stocks across China and Asia spiked following reports that President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could soon strike a deal to end a yearlong trade war.

US and China are in the final stages of negotiating a deal in which China would reduce tariffs on a range of US goods if the Trump administration removes broad trade sanctions against Beijing, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Trump and Xi could reach a formal agreement at a potential meeting around March 27.

Here's a check of the Asian markets:

• The Shanghai Composite index surged about 3% on Monday morning to reach its highest level in nine months.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.5%. Both indexes gave up some of their gains later in the day.
• Japan's Nikkei, meanwhile, closed about 1% higher.