Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Stocks - Wall Street Struggles as Trade Worries Rise Again

Published 15/10/2019, 06:51 am
Updated 15/10/2019, 08:14 am
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

Investing.com - Stocks pulled back slightly Monday after concerns emerged that the U.S.-China trade deal announced Friday might not be as solid as first thought.

President Donald Trump announced a "very substantial phase one" agreement, but nothing was in writing yet. Bloomberg News reported Monday there are still a number of points not yet resolved.

The S&P 500 fell 0.14%, and the Dow Jones industrials slipped 0.11%. The Nasdaq Composite was off 0.10%.

While the Nasdaq managed to hold above 8,000 for a second day in a row, the S&P 500 finished under 3,000 for a 17th-straight day and is 2% below its July peak of 3,027.98. The Dow is 2.2% below its peak of 27,399. The Nasdaq is 3.5% below its all-time high.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Nike (NYSE:NKE) hit new highs. Apple briefly was the world's most valuable company, ahead of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), but fell back into a tie by the close. Both ended down slightly with market caps of $1.066 trillion.

The wariness that pervaded the markets resulted in fewer stocks hitting new highs, compared with stocks hitting new lows.

Materials, consumer staples stocks and utilities were the weakest S&P 500 sectors. Real estate and financials were higher.

The third-quarter-earnings season begins Tuesday with reports from a host of financial companies, including JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS). There are worries that slowing global growth will cut into profit growth.

Markets in U.S. government bonds were on hold Monday for Columbus Day.

Oil prices fell on the trade worries. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.11 to $53.59 a barrel. Brent crude fell $1.16 to $1.6388. Gold moved up as some investors wanted safety.

Stocks had rallied strongly last week as Chinese and U.S. negotiators met in Washington, D.C. and Trump had Vice Premier Liu He, the leader of the Chinese team, to a White House meeting on Friday afternoon.

But a 507-point gain for the Dow on Friday was cut by nearly 40% in the last half hour of trading as investors sold the news of the projected deal. It included some relief on tariffs set to be imposed this week and a Chinese agreement to buy $40 billion to $60 billion in U.S. farm products, especially pork and and soybeans.

Not resolved were the key issues of access to Chinese markets and how to crack down on technology theft. And China wants a tariff imposition, set for December, canceled.

Trump Administration officials said they were hopeful the issues could be resolved soon.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE), Abiomed (NASDAQ:ABMD) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) were among the top S&P 500 performers on the day.

Fiber-laser make IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) and fertilizer makers CF Industries (NYSE:CF) and Mosaic Co (NYSE:MOS) were among the weakest S&P 500 performers.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: 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.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.