The US markets settled mostly in red on Monday, amid news China has canceled trade talks with the U.S. as tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of goods take effect. While Wall Street has repeatedly ignored the threat of rising trade tensions, focusing instead on strong economic data and corporate fundamentals, there remains concerns that the situation could escalate into a full-blown trade war, which could have a more severe impact on global demand and growth. Traders seem somewhat reluctant to make more significant moves, however, with the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting keeping some traders on the sidelines. The Fed is scheduled to announce it latest monetary policy decision on September 26 and is widely expected to raise interest rates by another quarter point. The accompanying statement is likely to attract considerable attention along with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference as traders attempt to gauge the outlook for further rate hikes.
The S&P 500 slipped 10.30 points or 0.35 percent to 2,919.37 and Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 181.45 points or 0.68 percent to 26,562.05, while Nasdaq surged 6.29 points or 0.08 percent to 7993.25.
