Stocks Slip as Trade Hopes Fade
November 08 2019 - 10:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Will Horner
Stocks pulled back Friday as optimism waned regarding the U.S.
and China making progress in resolving the trade war.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down 5 points, or less
than 0.1%. The broader S&P 500 fell 0.1%, while the tech-heavy
Nasdaq Composite Index also declined 0.1%.
Earlier, the Stoxx Europe 600 gauge fell 0.3%. Stocks in Asia
also pulled back, with the Hang Seng declining 0.7% and the
Shanghai Composite Index losing 0.5%.
While markets had begun betting that a partial trade deal would
be accompanied by a rolling-back of existing tariffs, questions
remain about President Donald Trump's commitment to offering such
concessions. On the same day that China said Beijing and Washington
have agreed to mutually lift some tariffs as part of a "phase-one"
deal, Peter Navarro, a senior U.S. trade adviser, said there was no
formal agreement in place and the final decision would lie with Mr.
Trump.
"Until we actually see some type of trade deal, the level of
uncertainty -- which ultimately will translate into volatility in
the market -- will persist," said Brian O'Reilly, head of
investment strategy at the Dublin-based Mediolanum International
Funds. "Today, we are just seeing a bit of a recalibration of that
over-optimism from a news headline without any hard facts."
Ahead of the New York opening bell, Gap Inc. slumped nearly 10%
after the apparel maker pared its profit targets for the year and
said Chief Executive Art Peck would step down immediately. Walt
Disney Co. shares climbed more than 6% in off-hours trading after
its earnings beat analysts' expectations.
Travel-website operator Booking Holdings also gained over 5%
following an earnings report that beat expectations.
Within European equities, Cartier's parent Cie. Financière
Richemont slipped 4.8% after the Swiss luxury-goods company's
earnings fell short of what analysts expected. French bank Natixis
was one of the biggest losers after its shares slid 7.5% in Paris
as analysts warned of weaknesses in its asset and wealth management
operations.
Oil prices also slipped as the cautious mood on the U.S.-China
trade spat spilled over into investors' assessment of the global
economic outlook. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.4%
to $61.41 a barrel.
Later on Friday, global markets, which have also been buoyed
lately by signs that a U.S. recession isn't imminent, will gauge
signals from a measure of consumer sentiment due to be released by
the University of Michigan.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 08, 2019 09:47 ET (14:47 GMT)
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