Wall Street Gains Even as Trade War Worries Dominate
Chris Zaccarelli said that The market doesn’t want to hear the uncertainty, the market wants to hear one way or another,
NEW YORK — U. S. stocks eked out a small gain on Tuesday after a choppy session as investors worried about the prospects of a trade
war due to mixed signals from Washington on whether U. S. President Donald Trump would follow through with proposed tariffs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9.36 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 24,884.12, the S&P 500 gained 7.18 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,728.12
and the Nasdaq Composite added 41.30 points, or 0.56 percent, to 7,372.01.
Trump reiterated his plan to slap hefty import tariffs on steel
and aluminum saying "trade wars aren’t so bad" even as lawmakers such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stepped up calls to scrap the proposal.
Jonathan Mackay, investment strategist at Schroders Investment Management in New York, said there are "no winners in a trade war."
Most of the S&P’s 11 sectors rose, with the materials index leading the gainers with a 1.1 percent increase as investors in
that sector bet against a trade war, according to Independent Advisor Alliance’s Zaccarelli
Earlier in the day strategists said some investors were beginning to bet Trump would not
follow through on the proposal, which they saw as a negotiating tactic in trade talks.
Mackay said that North Korea helps around the margin,