US stocks retreat from records on greater trade tension

WEST NEW YORK, Nov 29 — Wall Street stocks retreated from records early today on revived worries about US-China trade talks as retailer shares were mixed on the official start of the holiday shopping season.

Analysts pointed to increased US-China trade friction as Beijing threatened unspecified retaliation after President Donald Trump signed into law legislation supporting Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.

The move had raised doubts about the sides finalizing a trade deal announced in October.

Light trading volume on the day after the Thanksgiving holiday likely exacerbated the move, analysts said. Markets will close three hours early on Friday at 1800 GMT.

About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3 per cent at 28,090.14.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.2 per cent to 3,147.96, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also shed 0.2 per cent to 8,688.10.

Major indices closed at records the last three days.

Walmart and Target were among the gainers early today, while Macy’s and Nordstrom’s fell and Amazon was flat early on “Black Friday,” the official start of the US holiday shopping season.

Promotions were as prominent as ever this year, but analysts say the actual event has lost some lustre with the rise of e-commerce and the spreading-out of discounts before Thanksgiving and throughout the season. — AFP