Investing.com – Wall Street was mixed on Thursday as trade war tensions were offset by strong economic data.
The S&P 500 fell two points or 0.09% to 2,764.95 as of 9:40 AM ET (13:40 GMT) while the Dow composite decreased 93 points or 0.38% to 24,564.35 and tech heavy NASDAQ Composite rose over six points or 0.08% to 7,788.04.
Tensions between the U.S. and China continue, as the two largest economies in the world faced a tit-for-tat over trade tariffs. Earlier this week U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese goods. China could strike back at blue-chip firms including Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) and Boeing (NYSE:BA), which rely on China for revenue.
Semiconductor Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) was among the top gainers after the morning bell, rising 3.31% after its earnings came in higher than expected. Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) gained 1.02% while Kroger (NYSE:KR) surged 10.66% after its financial results beat expectations and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was up 0.90%.
Elsewhere Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) fell 1.01% while General Electric (NYSE:GE) decreased 0.85% and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) lost 0.99%.
Strong economic data pointed to a strengthening economy, with the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly falling last week. Meanwhile the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index fell in June.
In Europe stocks were down. Germany’s DAX fell 115 points or 0.91% while in France the CAC 40 decreased 32 points or 0.60% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down 48 points or 0.63%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost 26 points or 0.77% while Spain’s IBEX 35 slumped 61 points or 0.63%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.50% to $1,268.10 troy ounce while crude oil futures decreased 0.87% to $65.14 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.18% to 94.61.