NEW YORK, Aug 20 — Wall Street stocks opened lower today, retreating after three straight positive sessions amid lingering unease over the US-China trade war and low US bond yields.
About 15 minutes into trading the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2 per cent at 26,079.84.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.5 per cent to 2,910.31, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.4 per cent to 7,972.11.
US stocks have rallied the last three days, recovering much of the ground lost after the Dow suffered its worst session for the year when yields on short-term US Treasuries briefly exceeded long-term notes, a warning sign of a coming recession.
US media reported that the White House is considering cutting payroll taxes or reversing tariffs to head off a recession, despite US President Donald Trump’s insistence the economy remains strong.
The latest reports are “something more for the market to turn over in its mind as it contemplates whether the flattening/inverted yield curve is a true harbinger of what’s to come or an economic head fake driven by an interest rate differential trade,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
And the market swings can be exaggerated with the low volume of the late August trading sessions.
Among individual companies, Home Depot jumped 3.6 per cent after it reported better-than-expected second-quarter profits. But the home-improvement retailer lowered its full-year sales estimate due to lower lumber prices as well as the potential hit to consumers from a new round of US tariffs on Chinese goods. — AFP
