NEW YORK, Nov 11 — Wall Street lost ground at the open today in a quiet holiday session to start a heavy week of data and Fed commentary, but with questions remaining over a US-China trade deal.
With the government closed in observance of Veteran’s Day, it is unlikely President Donald Trump or his team will provide any clarity on details of a “phase one” agreement to end the lingering trade conflict between the economic powers.
Trump on Friday contradicted Chinese assertion that Washington and Beijing already had agreed to roll back tariffs.
After several weeks of steady gains and multiple new records, the major indices pulled back on Monday.
About 10 minutes into the trading day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5 per cent to 27,547.98.
The broad-based S&P 500 also lost 0.5 per cent to 3,077.88, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.6 per cent to 8,427.00.
“With no economic data on today’s docket and few corporate earnings released, the market has naturally shifted to focus on overseas developments,” including worsening protests in Hong Kong, Briefing.com analyst Patrick J. O’Hare said.
But investors will have plenty of material to digest on the US economy including a report Tuesday from the Port of Los Angeles on the impact of the China trade dispute on jobs and the economy.
Government inflation data is due out Wednesday and industrial production on Friday, but the main attention grabber will be back-to-back testimony before Congress by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell Wednesday and Thursday.
Powell is expected to reiterate his message that the central bank is done for now with policy moves and will be on standby to see how the economy reacts to three interest rate cuts.
Most of the corporate earnings season is complete, but Walmart releases its quarterly results on Thursday. Shares in the retail chain slipped 0.4 per cent.
Southwest Airlines dipped 0.2 per cent after announcing that week that it was again pushing back the expected return to the skies of Boeing’s grounded 737 MAX aircraft. Southwest has been hard hit by the loss of the jet after two deadly crashes.
Boeing shares fell 1.2 per cent, while Walgreen Boots Alliance jumped 5.6 per cent amid news it had received a buyout offer. — AFP
