Wall Street, troubled by Trump's comments, ends in small decline

New York – Wall Street ended slightly lower on Friday after an indecisive session between the malaise provoked by Donald Trump's comments on the trade war and the US central bank, and better corporate accounts provided that.
  

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell 0.03% to 25,058.12 points.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological color, dropped 0.07% to 7.820,20 points.

The expanded S & P 500 index fell 0.09% to 2,801.83 points.

Over the week, the Dow Jones appreciated 0.15%, the Nasdaq dropped 0.07% and the S & P 500 nibbled 0.02%.

The session was marked Friday by comments from the US president, who in an interview and in tweets threatened to impose punitive customs duties on all Chinese products imported into the United States, accused of European Union and China to manipulate their currency and criticized the decision of the US Central Bank (Fed) to raise its interest rates.

" The problem is not necessarily so much what he says, but what it suggests about his ignorance of the economy ," said Gregori Volokhine, Meeschaert Financial Services.

" The Fed's mandate, for example, is full employment and price stability and it does not need the President (Trump) to guide it, but the more it will be criticized, the more it will could be tempted to make decisions contrary to the president's recommendations so as not to be accused of being subjected to political pressure "he said.

As for all the issues around trade tensions between Washington and its main partners, they " have obviously gained importance lately, including this Friday ," said Quincy Krosby, Prudential Financial.

The main question " for both the markets and the Fed is whether they will prevent companies from expanding, investing, hiring, and whether they will weigh on economic indicators ]"she said.

Threatening, for example, to impose customs taxes on all Chinese imports " can both destroy jobs, provoke inflation and trigger a recession ," Volokhine said.

The reaction of investors, now accustomed to the controversial remarks of the president, however, remained limited, especially thanks to corporate earnings above expectations: the giant computing Microsoft has gained 1.79%, the Honeywell industrial group 3.79% and DIY tool maker Stanley Black & Decker 3.28%.

" Overall, the numbers have been good since the start of the earnings season and especially the forecasts are optimistic ," said Krosby.

The bond market tended sharply: the yield on US 10-year debt rose to 2.895%, against 2.838% Thursday at the close, and the 30 year old at 3.027%, against 2.959% the day before.

NYSE