US close: Stocks take a dip on Pelosi's Taiwan trip
Wall Street stocks closed below the line on Tuesday, amid heightened tensions between the US and China as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi touched down in Taiwan.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.23%, as the S&P 500 lost 0.67% to 4,091.19 and the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.16% at 12,348.76.
The Dow closed 402.23 points lower on Tuesday, extending the losses it recorded in the previous session on Monday.
“US markets are leading the losses today, as fears around a potential military escalation with China bring risk-off sentiment back into play,” said IG senior market analyst Joshua Mahony.
“While we are still to hear from the remaining 36% of the S&P 500 that are yet to report, the reaction to a largely better-than-expected earnings season has mostly been priced in by this point.”
Mahony said that as a result, the week had seen markets shift focus to the risk posed by the fact that Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei earlier in the day, despite Chinese government warnings.
“Sharp volatility for dollar-offshore renminbi highlights market uncertainty over how the trip will play out, but ultimately it is likely that this current posturing will soon blow over despite a short-term rise in tensions.”
Tuesday's primary focus was news that Californian Democrat Pelosi had landed in Taiwan, to reportedly spend the night in the country.
Chinese officials spent recent days threatening to take action if she went ahead with the visit, which would be the first by a House Speaker since Newt Gingrich landed in 1997.
Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian warned the United States that China was "standing by" and the Chinese People's Liberation Army will "never sit idly by".
He said China would take "resolute responses and strong countermeasures" to defend its sovereignty and "territorial integrity".
On the economic front, US job openings fell by 605,000 month-on-month to 10.7m in June, the lowest reading in nine months and below market expectations of 11.0m, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That was driven by large decreases in retail trade, wholesale trade, and state and local government education.
Quits remained unchanged at 2.8%.
In the corporate space, brewer Molson Coors was 10.46% flatter after it reported a drop in quarterly profits, despite a fifth consecutive period of net sales growth.
On the upside, ride-hailing and takeaway-pedalling platform Uber Technologies surged 18.9% after it topped analyst expectations on revenue.
Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Iain Gilbert.
Dow Jones - Risers
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $183.79 0.44%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $156.71 0.28%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $132.68 0.11%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $535.46 0.01%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $0.00 0.00%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $131.81 -0.17%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $172.92 -0.57%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $141.95 -0.66%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $243.91 -0.70%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $183.51 -5.82%
Boeing Co. (BA) $163.28 -3.42%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.01 -2.57%
Visa Inc. (V) $206.26 -2.41%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $111.77 -2.21%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $39.05 -2.11%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $45.34 -1.99%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $51.55 -1.73%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $300.71 -1.67%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $112.43 -1.56%
S&P 500 - Risers
Gartner Inc. (IT) $289.69 7.65%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $4.03 6.90%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $9.35 4.82%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $238.48 4.35%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $12.47 4.09%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $98.17 3.95%
Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc (ZBH) $114.06 3.92%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $93.62 3.65%
Fluor Corp. (FLR) $25.98 3.59%
AFLAC Inc. (AFL) $58.74 3.58%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Molson Coors Beverage Co. Class B (TAP) $53.44 -10.46%
Sealed Air Corp. (SEE) $56.17 -8.71%
Arconic Inc. (ARNC) $28.06 -7.76%
Waters Corp. (WAT) $340.55 -6.84%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $72.61 -6.23%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $183.51 -5.82%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $41.70 -5.59%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $74.16 -5.20%
Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $102.64 -4.66%
Macerich Co (MAC) $10.08 -4.64%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $238.48 4.35%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $837.59 2.90%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $1,956.30 2.60%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $437.65 2.60%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $59.73 1.65%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $219.14 1.64%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $86.69 1.50%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $64.41 1.37%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $89.63 1.20%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $901.76 1.11%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $72.61 -6.23%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $75.51 -3.67%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $2.88 -3.03%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $79.83 -3.00%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.01 -2.57%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $565.60 -2.17%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $221.42 -2.12%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $39.05 -2.11%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $22.72 -2.03%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $21.64 -1.81%