US stocks pressured amid latest US-China trade move

New York: Wall Street stocks mostly retreated early Wednesday pulling back recent gains amid the latest maneuver in the ongoing US-China trade fight.

About 40 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 25,592.49, down 0.1 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500, which has risen the last four sessions, slipped 0.1 percent to 2,856.73, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was flat at 7,884.67.

US trade officials announced late Tuesday that the first round of President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs on China will hit $50 billion in goods starting August 23, with the addition of 279 products totaling $16 billion to the target list.

Although the move was expected, it cements the view that there appears to be no effort underway to defuse the dispute between the world’s two largest economies that have continued to exchange threats.

China on Wednesday announced it would hit back with tariffs on another $16 billion in US goods, as it had previously warned it would.

Tesla Motors edged up 0.4 percent in choppy trading a day after chief executive Elon Musk signaled he hoped to take the company private. Tesla’s board said it would evaluate the idea, which Musk has said would better serve the company’s long-term prospects.

Disney fell 1.3 percent following its earnings report, while CVS Health jumped 3.7 percent after reporting results.

AFP