Daily Times

Wall Street stocks retreated early Monday ahead of major earnings reports later this week amid lingering unease over US trade conflicts.

About 40 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 percent at 25,031.47.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.1 percent to 2,799.59, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slid 0.2 percent to 7,801.58.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker heads to Washington on Wednesday to meet with President Donald Trump and try to avert an escalation of tit-for-tat trade tariffs.

Trump already is embroiled in a messy trade spat with China, while negotiations with Canada and Mexico to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement have stalled.

“It is hard to imagine a more difficult trading environment due to worsening trade-war rhetoric, a sharp devaluation of the Chinese currency, an unsynchronized global recovery, and the President commenting on Fed policy,” said Canaccord Genuity strategist Tony Dwyer.

Dwyer noted that any pullback would be a buying opportunity given strong corporate earnings.

Earnings season will heat up further in the coming days with reports from Google-parent Alphabet, Boeing and Amazon, among others.

Also on tap this week will be the first reading on second-quarter US growth, which is forecast to be a blockbuster, albeit a one-time burst.

Among individual stocks, US-listed shares of Fiat Chrysler fell 2.3 percent, while Ferrari slumped 4.8 percent after the sudden exit of chief executive Sergio Marchionne due to health reasons.

Amazon dipped 0.7 percent after Trump again attacked the company on Twitter, swiping at the “Amazon Washington Post” and suggesting the company should face antitrust charges.

The Washington Post is owned by Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos, but is now owned by the online retail giant.

Published in Daily Times, July 24^th 2018.