Wall Street opens mixed as investors wait for US Pres. Trump's announcements on China

Major equity indexes opened little changed on Friday.
Energy shares underperform amid worries over escalating US-China tensions.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Wall Street's main indexes started the last day of the week on a mixed tone as investors seem to be staying reluctant to make large bets ahead of US President Trump's press conference on China. Reflecting the cautious mood, the CBOE Volatility Index, the so-called fear gauge, is up 5.2% on the day.

Falling crude oil prices hurt energy shares

As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down 0.35% and 0.12%, respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite was gaining 0.55%.

Earlier in the day, the data published by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis revealed that Personal Spending in April plunged by 13.6%. However, further details of the report showed that Personal Income increased by 10.5%. Nevertheless, these data had virtually no impact on market sentiment.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is down 1% on the day pressured by a more-than-1% drop in crude oil prices. On the other hand, the Technology Index is up 0.5% as the top performer.

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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