A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., July 31, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
August 6, 2018
By Sruthi Shankar
(Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes were little changed on Monday as investors weighed an escalating trade dispute between the United States and China, and a mixed bag of corporate results.
China proposed a set of differentiated tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. imports last week, retaliating to the Trump administration’s plans of 25 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.
Chinese state media launched a personal attack on President Donald Trump’s trade policies on Monday, saying his trade “extortion” would not work.
The months-long dispute has roiled financial markets across the globe, although the U.S. markets have been largely supported by a strong earnings season so far.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc <BRKb.N> rose 3.6 percent after the Warren Buffett-led conglomerate reported a 67 percent surge in quarterly operating profit.
Newell Brands <NWL.N> dropped 7 percent after the Sharpie pen maker reported quarterly sales below Wall Street estimates on Monday and cut its full-year forecast.
Of the more than 400 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, 78.6 percent have topped earnings estimates. That is well above the average of 72 percent for the past four quarters.
The S&P 500 <.SPX> ended up 0.8 percent last week, closing a five-week run of gains, its first such winning streak this year.
“We’re only couple of points away from an all-time high, and as we approach that, we’re going to see a little bit of resistance,” said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
At 9:52 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> was down 55.95 points, or 0.22 percent, at 25,406.63, the S&P 500 <.SPX> was up 0.69 points, or 0.02 percent, at 2,841.04 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> was up 4.85 points, or 0.06 percent, at 7,816.86.
Six of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, led by a 0.4 percent drop in the S&P materials index <.SPLRCM>.
Praxair <PX.N> dropped 5.2 percent after its $86 billion merger with German industrial gases group Linde <LIN1.DE> was thrown into doubt by more demands from U.S. antitrust regulators.
Intel <INTC.O> was the biggest drag on the main indexes, dropping 1.8 percent, after Barclays downgraded the stock to “equal weight”.
PepsiCo <PEP.O> rose 1.3 percent after the company said Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi would step down in October.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.23-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.30-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 11 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 35 new highs and 30 new lows.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
