Stocks Slip on Doubts About China-U.S. Tariff Talks
November 13 2019 - 10:33AM
Dow Jones News
By Anna Isaac and Joanne Chiu
U.S. stocks followed global markets lower Wednesday after
stumbling blocks emerged in trade talks with China.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% in morning
trading. The S&P 500 dropped 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite
declined 0.3%.
Earlier, major indexes across Asia fell, and continuing
political unrest in Hong Kong drove the Hang Seng down 1.8%.
Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.9%.
In Europe, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.4%.
A question hanging over trade talks is whether Washington will
agree to remove existing tariffs on Chinese imports to secure an
initial deal with Beijing, rather than just lifting the threat of
further levies due Dec. 15.
"In the short term the market's been too optimistic. The best
interpretation of the trade situation is that almost everything
that can be tariffed has been tariffed," said Christopher Mahon,
director of asset allocation research at Barings.
Meanwhile, havens picked up. The yield on the U.S. 10-year
Treasury slipped to 1.869%, down from 1.909% Tuesday. Yields move
in the opposite direction from prices. Gold futures climbed
0.7%.
New data showed consumer prices rose more than expected last
month. The consumer-price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in
October from the previous month, driven by higher energy costs, the
Labor Department said. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street
Journal had forecast a 0.3% rise.
Later, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gives testimony to
Congress's Joint Economic Committee. Lines of questioning for Mr.
Powell might include the Fed's expected pause on interest-rate cuts
and the overall health of the U.S. economy.
Shares of Energizer Holdings jumped 13% after the battery
manufacturer's revenue growth came in better than expected.
Cloud-based data analytics company Datadog's shares rallied 17%
after its earnings beat expectations, reporting results for its
first quarter as a public company.
Meanwhile, SmileDirectClub, a teeth-straightening startup that
was also reporting for the first time since its initial public
offering, tumbled 17% after it said losses had widened in the
latest quarter.
Technology giant Cisco Systems will report earnings later
Wednesday.
In commodities, U.S crude oil futures gained 0.4%.
Stocks fell in Hong Kong as unrest gripped the city, including
parts of the financial district, for a third straight weekday.
"The escalation of violence has caused some market jitters,"
said Daryl Liew, head of portfolio management at REYL
Singapore.
Write to Anna Isaac at anna.isaac@wsj.com and Joanne Chiu at
joanne.chiu@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 13, 2019 10:18 ET (15:18 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.