US markets end lower as lingering trade woes overshadow Fed minutes

23 May 2019 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday as traders continued to worry the trade dispute between the US and China is escalating into a full-fledged trade war. A private report said Chinas is re-examining the entire bilateral economic relationship between the US and China. Chinese government advisers are highlighting the risk of sourcing critical supplies from an increasingly hostile US following the Trump administration's recent move to blacklist Chinese tech giant Huawei. Besides, there was some cautiousness also came  as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the US has no plans to go to Beijing to resume trade negotiations.

Meanwhile, stocks remained mostly lower following the release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting, which suggested the central bank is in no rush to alter the path of interest rates. The minutes showed members agreed that a patient approach to determining future adjustments to rates would likely remain appropriate for some time. Citing an environment of moderate US economic growth and muted inflation pressures, the Fed expects to remain patient even if global economic and financial conditions continued to improve. The Fed decided to leave interest rates unchanged at the two-day meeting ended May 1, as uncertainties affecting the US and global economic outlooks had receded but inflation pressures remained muted.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 100.72 points or 0.39 percent to 25776.61, Nasdaq declined 34.88 points or 0.45 percent to 7750.84 and S&P 500 was down by 8.09 points or 0.28 percent to 2856.27.

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