The US markets ended marginally lower on Friday, as bond yields jumped, a shift that helped banks but hurt companies that pay big dividends. Investors remained concerned with report that the trade tensions could escalate into a full-scale trade war, which could hurt growth and business spending. The Trump administration previously imposed tariffs of $34 billion worth of Chinese imports and has threatened to impose tariffs on another $200 billion worth of goods. Trump argued the strength in the stock market since his election has allowed him to be more aggressive on trade, claiming, ‘We're playing with the bank's money’. Trump signaled for a second straight day his frustration with the Federal Reserve’s policy of gradually raising interest rates, arguing that it has the potential to undermine his fiscal-stimulus measures intended to boost US economic expansion in its ninth year, even as the president locks horns with trade partners across the globe.
Trump said he was ready to put tariffs on all Chinese goods imported to the US, which would amount to more than $500 billion. The comments were the latest in a series that pointed to worsening trade relations; on Thursday, Trump threatened tremendous retribution against the European Union and stood by a pledge to levy tariffs on automobile imports. However, strong quarterly results from some of the largest US companies, including Microsoft and Honeywell capped the losses on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 6.38 points or 0.03 percent to 25058.12, the S&P 500 declined 2.66 points or 0.09 percent to 2801.83 and the Nasdaq was down by 5.10 points or 0.07 percent to 7820.20.
