By Christopher Whittall and Danielle Chemtob 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell Thursday to notch its longest losing streak in more than a year as trade tensions between the U.S. and China weighed on stocks.

The impact of escalating trade tensions became clearer after German auto maker Daimler AG issued an unexpected profit warning late Wednesday, saying Chinese retaliatory import duties on vehicles built in the U.S. would crimp sales and earnings.

The announcement sent shares of auto makers and other trade-sensitive stocks around the world down and gave investors a glimpse of how President Donald Trump's push to enact protectionist trade policies could affect corporate profits. The Dow industrials declined nearly 200 points to post an eighth consecutive session of losses, their longest run of daily declines since March 2017.

"If we continue to see other companies start to warn that the trade war, trade tariffs start to have an impact on earnings, that would be bad for all stocks and really bring market sentiment down," said Brant Houston, managing director and portfolio manager at CIBC Atlantic Trust.

And trade is in the spotlight even more during a quiet period for corporate news, said Paul Quinsee, global head of equities at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

"In the meantime, it's the big picture that's taking up people's attention," he said.

The Dow industrials declined 196 points, or 0.8%, to 24462. The S&P 500 lost 0.6%, with eight of the broad index's 11 sectors ending the day down, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.9%.

Sectors investors typically flock to in times of volatility rose Thursday, with the S&P 500's utilities and real-estate sectors gaining 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively.

Among the decliners, shares of Ford and General Motors fell 1.3% and 2%, respectively.

But auto makers are hopeful a proposal for a compromise brought to the Trump administration Wednesday will be successful.

Moreover, rising tariffs between the U.S. and China and the U.S. and Europe are only part of the story. The biggest threat to car makers is what happens to the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, said Philippe Houchois, an equity analyst at Jefferies.

"The longer-term risk is to what extent it affects what car companies have been doing for the last two decades in terms of globalizing their supply chains," he said.

Shares of energy companies also struggled as officials from major oil-exporting countries neared a deal on Thursday to increase crude output by one million barrels a day. The S&P 500 energy sector fell 1.9%, with Chevron declining 2.2%, while Exxon Mobil lost 0.9%.

Shares of e-commerce companies also slumped after the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that states can require online merchants to collect sales tax. Shares of Amazon.com fell 1.1% and eBay declined 3.2%.

But traditional retailers could benefit from the ruling, said Sandy Villere, portfolio manager of the Villere Balanced Fund. Target rose 1%, while Best Buy added 1.8%.

"I think it could level the playing ground a little bit between some of the internet retailers versus bricks-and-mortar," Mr. Villere said.

Technology companies were also trading lower due, in part, to shares of Intel sliding 2.4%. The company's chief executive resigned after the chip maker determined he violated company policy during a past, consensual relationship with an Intel employee.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 shed 0.9%, closing at its lowest value since April. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.4%, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.6%.

Write to Christopher Whittall at christopher.whittall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 21, 2018 16:59 ET (20:59 GMT)