Stocks close lower after Trump's China comments
U.S. stocks closed modestly lower Tuesday following President Trump's comments warning China that a much tougher trade deal would be coming if he gets reelected.
Investors were also trading cautiously as the Federal Reserve began its two-day policy meeting in which it is widely anticipated by economists that the central bank will cut interest rates for the first time in a decade.
Wall Street has been hoping Beijing and Washington will avoid another escalation in tariffs like the one that occurred after talks collapsed in May. But those hopes were strained by another presidential tweet.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer met in Shanghai with a delegation led by China's economy czar, Vice Premier Liu He. Those meetings are set to conclude Wednesday.
Shares of Capital One Financial fell as investors worried about its management of customer data after the credit-card issuer said information for 106 million people had been compromised.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 43893.5 | +485.03 | +1.12% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5945.97 | +28.86 | +0.49% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 18969.107509 | +2.96 | +0.02% |
Shares of Merck & Co moved higher after the company reported higher-than-expected second-quarter profit, powered by strong demand for its cancer immunotherapy Keytruda and vaccines.
Procter & Gamble's quarterly revenue and profit beat Wall Street expectations, boosted by price hikes and strong demand for its beauty products such as Olay. Shares gained on the news.
Beyond Meat's shares tumbled on plans for another stock offering just three months after its IPO while demand for its plant-based burgers and sausages prompted an increase in its full-year sales forecast.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COF | CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP. | 183.19 | +2.51 | +1.39% |
| BYND | BEYOND MEAT INC. | 5.08 | -0.07 | -1.35% |
| MRK | MERCK & CO. INC. | 99.03 | +1.59 | +1.64% |
| PG | PROCTER & GAMBLE CO. | 173.26 | +2.34 | +1.37% |
| AAPL | APPLE INC. | 230.04 | +1.04 | +0.45% |
In economic news, the leading measure of U.S. home prices saw annual gains slip in May to 3.4 percent. According to the S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller report, the 20-City Composite reported a 0.6 percent increase for the month.
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Contracts to buy previously owned homes rose more than expected in June, the National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday. The pending home sales index rose to a reading of 108.3 last month, up 2.8 percent from the prior month.