U.S. stocks close mixed to end shortened week

The Star

3 days ago

NEW YORK, May 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday, as investors contended with renewed trade tensions and signs of easing inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 54.34 points, or 0.13 percent, to 42,270.07. The S&P 500 sank 0.48 points, or 0.01 percent, to 5,911.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 62.11 points, or 0.32 percent, to 19,113.77, recovering from a drop of more than 1.6 percent earlier in the session.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with consumer staples and utilities leading the gainers by adding 1.16 percent and 1.08 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, energy and consumer discretionary led the laggards by losing 0.68 percent and 0.58 percent, respectively.
Markets fell initially after Bloomberg reported that the Trump administration is preparing to expand technology restrictions on China.
This report followed a post by U.S. President Donald Trump on Truth Social, in which he accused China of violating the trade agreement with the United States, just weeks after the two nations appeared to have reached a temporary tariff truce. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier told Fox News that trade talks between the United States and China are "a bit stalled."
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase's chief executive, said the United States should be engaging with China on trade. "They're not scared, folks," Dimon said about China in comments broadcast on CNBC.
Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York, said tariffs remain an issue for the market. "The U.S.-China trade talks supposedly have stalled again, and yet they have a meeting coming up as well," he said.
Shares of Nvidia were down 2.92 percent amid worries about worsening U.S.-China trade tensions. Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom, Micron Technology, and Applied Materials also lost ground.
On the economic side, inflation in the United States showed further signs of cooling in April. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, a key inflation measure used by the Federal Reserve, rose just 0.1 percent month over month, bringing the annual inflation rate down to 2.1 percent, its lowest level in 2025.
Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core PCE, which is closely watched by Fed officials, also increased 0.1 percent for the month and 2.5 percent year over year, slightly below expectations of 2.6 percent. At their policy meeting earlier this month, Fed officials expressed worry about potential tariff inflation.