Wall Street ends modestly lower as trade concerns resurface
|- Technology is the only major sector to close the day in the positive territory.
- Crude oil weakness weighs on energy.
- Trade worries drag industrials lower on Thursday.
Major equity indexes in the U.S. started the day slightly higher but pared early gains to close in the negative territory as the lack of positive headlines from the trade talks in Washington brought back concerns over the possibility of the conflict extending longer.
The trade sensitive S&P 500 Industrials Index lost 0.37%. "The two issues hitting the market today are the China tariffs issue and a mild reaction to the Trump issue. For now, they're causing a mild headache, but it's not a migraine," Jim Awad, senior managing director at Hartland & Co in New York, told Reuters. In the meantime, after recording strong gains on Wednesday, crude oil prices came under pressure, and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate settled below the $68 mark. The S&P 500 Energy Index lost more than 0.5% on a daily basis.
On the other hand, the S&P 500 Information Technology Index ended the day 0.18% higher to become the only major sector to record gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 75.35 points, or 0.29%, to 25,658.25, the S&P 500 fell 4.71 points, or 0.16%, to 2,857.11 and the Nasdaq Composite erased 10.12 points, or 0.13, to 7,878.98.
DJIA technical outlook via FXStreet Chief Analyst Valeria Bednarik
The daily chart for the Dow shows that it posted its lowest close for this week, but so far remains within last Friday's range. In the mentioned chart, the index continues developing above a bullish 20 SMA, while technical indicators have turned south, the Momentum pressuring its midline and the RSI currently easing at around 59, supporting some additional declines ahead. Nevertheless, the decline could be understood as corrective as long as the index holds above the mentioned 20 DMA, now at around 25,500.
Technical readings in the 4 hours chart favor a continued slide, as the index attempted but failed to surpass its 20 SMA, which is now turning lower, as technical indicators present strong downward slopes well into negative territory.
Support levels: 25,603 - 25,552 - 25,500.
Resistance levels: 25,761 - 25,810 - 25,849.
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