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US-STOCKS-MARKETS
US stocks end near flat amid trade war uncertainty
NEW YORK, Sept 13, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Wall Street stocks finished little
changed on Wednesday following a volatile session amid lingering trade war
anxiety, while Apple shares fell following its latest product launches.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.1 percent to 25,998.92.
The broad-based S&P 500 added a hair at 2,888.92, while the tech-rich
Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.2 percent to 7,954.23.
Trade war angst has weighed on stocks for months and caused more ripples
Wednesday.
Stocks rallied to session highs soon after a midday Wall Street Journal
report that US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had invited Chinese
officials for a bilateral meeting.
But the market pulled back a bit later following a Federal Reserve report
chronicling rising anxiety across the United States about trade tensions,
with some businesses planning to curtail capital spending amid the fog.
A new lobby group called Americans for Free Trade announced plans to
campaign against tariffs in the upcoming mid-term elections.
Apple, which jumped Tuesday in anticipation of a big company event, dipped
1.4 percent after unveiling updated versions its priciest iPhones, along with
a new smartwatch that allows users to take their own electrocardiograms.
Gilead Sciences jumped 2.5 percent after announcing positive clinical
results for a new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
Large banks were generally weak, with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and
Wells Fargo all falling at least one percent as US Treasury bond yields
declined.
Semiconductor shares fell after Goldman Sachs downgraded both Micron
Technology and Lam Research, which lost 4.3 percent and 3.2 percent
respectively.
Chinese automaker NIO, a would-be rival to California’s electric car
producer Tesla, climbed 0.3 percent in its first session of trading in New
York
US wholesale inflation fell for the third month in a row in August on weak
wholesale margins for machinery and equipment, according to Labor Department
data. The report comes ahead of the much-anticipated consumer price data due
on Thursday.
BSS/AFP/HR/0950