U.S. stocks were mixed Wednesday morning after ending a lengthy winning streak following President Donald Trump’s skeptical comments on the ongoing U.S.-China trade war.
At around 2.20 a.m. ET, Dow futures were up by around 8 points and indicated a positive open of more than 9 points. The S&P 500 was seen edging fractionally higher while the Nasdaq was expected to tick slightly lower.
Trump on Tuesday said the world’s two largest economies have a “long way to go” on trade, and suggested that the U.S. could impose sanctions on an additional $325 billion worth of Chinese goods.
The comments come just as Washington and Beijing seek to restart negotiations on a trade deal after Trump and Chinese President Xi agreed not to escalate tensions, having slapped tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of each other’s imports over the past year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 23.53 points, or 0.1%, to 27,335.63, ending a four-day winning streak on the back of the news, while both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also slipped lower, having registered all-time highs at the previous close.
U.S. corporate earnings season is now in full gear. On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs reported better-than-expected results, driven by the company’s investment banking and trading divisions, causing the Wall Street giant’s shares to climb 1.9%.
J.P. Morgan Chase ’s results also topped estimates and its stock rose 1.1%. Johnson & Johnson, however, fell 1.6% despite reporting a 42% profit surge in the previous quarter.
Wednesday sees a slew of major corporates reporting, with Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, IBM and Netflix all due before the bell.
On the data front, housing starts figures for June are due at 8.30 a.m. ET while EIA crude oil stocks change data is set for release at 10.30 a.m. ET.
Source: CNBC
