Wall Street Opens Weak on Trade Concerns

September 4, 2018
wall street

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Tuesday, as traders return to their desks following the long, holiday weekend.

Lingering concerns about global trade are likely to weigh on the markets after U.S. and Canadian officials failed to reach an agreement to reform NAFTA.

President Donald Trump said in a post on Twitter on Saturday that there is ?no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal.?

?If we don?t make a fair deal for the U.S. after decades of abuse, Canada will be out,? Trump tweeted. ?Congress should not interfere w/ these negotiations or I will simply terminate NAFTA entirely & we will be far better off.?

Stocks showed a lack of direction during trading on Friday before ending the session rough flat. The major averages ended the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line.

The major averages ended the session mixed. While the Dow edged down 22.10 points or 0.1 percent to 25,964.82, the S&P 500 inched up 0.39 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,901.52 and the Nasdaq rose 21.17 points or 0.3 percent to 8,109.54.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes after President Donald Trump warned that he could pull the United States out of the World Trade Organization

Trump claimed he would evacuate the international trading group if it doesn’t treat the U.S. better, making it the latest agreement to be targeted as part of the president’s “America First” trade strategy.

“If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” Trump told Bloomberg News in an Oval Office interview on Thursday.

According to Trump, the treaty establishing the trade body was “the single worst trade deal ever made.”

Traders also expressed uncertainty ahead of a deadline for U.S. and Canadian officials to reach a new NAFTA agreement.

Most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets.

Dipo Olowookere

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan.

Mr Olowookere can be reached via [email protected]

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