Wall Street closed in the red because of concerns about trade, rising oil prices
NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) – Wall Street ended Thursday’s volatile trading with a decline due to investor concerns about growing trade tensions and rising oil prices.
The comments of US President Donald Trump that China “became very spoiled by trade” made him question his desire to avoid a trade war between the two largest economies in the world, increasing the excitement of investors towards the start of the second round of talks between Washington and Beijing.
Oil prices rose to a maximum in three and a half years against the background of instability in the Middle East, which allows to expect a reduction in oil supplies. The S&P energy index rose 1.3 percent, showing the largest increase in the main S&P 500 sectors.
The Dow Jones index closed the session down by 0.22 percent to 24,713.98 points, the S&P 500 index – by 0.09 percent to 2.720.13 points, the Nasdaq Composite index – by 0.21 percent to 7.382.47 points.
Shares of the so-called defense sectors were among outsiders among the 11 main sectors of the S&P 500. Sensitive to changes in interest rates, the telecommunications sector, real estate sector and shares of electric power companies declined amid rising yields of the US state bonds.
The shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) exerted the greatest pressure on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, down 3.8 percent, despite the fact that the company’s profits and revenues exceeded forecasts. According to Citigroup’s (NYSE:C) research note, investors feel that the technology company is losing market share.
The technological sector of the S&P 500 fell by 0.5 percent.