Wall Street drops after Trump threatens further China tariffs
Reuters
Published Sep 07, 2018 03:32PM ET
Wall Street drops after Trump threatens further China tariffs
By April Joyner
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street's major indexes moved lower on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had tariffs ready to impose on an additional $267 billion worth of Chinese imports, though stocks pared losses late in the afternoon.
Trump's remarks came after the comment period regarding another round of tariffs, on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, ended on Thursday night. Earlier, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Trump would not make any decisions on those tariffs until officials evaluated public comments.
Additionally, Trump said the United States and Japan have begun trade discussions.
The S&P 500 and the Dow had opened lower as the U.S. Labor Department's employment report showed accelerating job growth and a surge in wage growth. Though the report indicated a strong economy, it raised concerns among investors regarding inflation and the Federal Reserve's plans for increasing interest rates.
After Trump's comments on tariffs, both indexes added to losses, while the Nasdaq, which had been boosted by a recovery in tech stocks, gave up its gains. The three indexes recovered some of their losses later in the session.
Several investors said the unsettled stance on trade contributed to U.S. stocks' meandering path on Friday.
"It's not that we have good policies or bad policies; it's that we don't know what the policy is," said Brian Battle, director of trading at Performance Trust Capital Partners in Chicago. "It's very fickle."
"It's kind of a tempest in a teapot, more than anything," said Michael Antonelli, managing director of institutional sales trading at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee. "I wouldn't be surprised to see us end the day flat."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 55.27 points, or 0.21 percent, to 25,940.6, the S&P 500 lost 2.25 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,875.8 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.01 points, or 0.04 percent, to 7,919.72.
Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower. Consumer discretionary, health care and financial stocks posted modest gains.
The S&P 500 technology index was trading flat after being shellacked in the last two sessions over concerns regarding the possibility of increased regulation of social media companies.
Shares of chipmaker Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Inc rose 7.5 percent after a strong current-quarter revenue forecast.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc shares slid 6.4 percent following reports of two executives leaving the company and on mounting investor concerns about Chief Executive Elon Musk's behavior after he smoked marijuana on a live Web show.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 2.26-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.24-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
Get The News You Want
The S&P 500 posted 36 new 52-week highs and 16 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 95 new highs and 62 new lows.
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.