US stocks slide as traders await Trump's China news conference

• US stocks slipped on Friday ahead of President Donald Trump's news conference on China.
• US consumer spending in April also posted the biggest drop on record as the personal savings rate jumped to a record 33% from 12.7%.
• Oil slumped but remained on track for its best month ever.
• Read more on Business Insider.

US stocks slipped on Friday as concerned traders awaited President Donald Trump's news conference on China. Consumer spending dropped by a record amount in April, reflecting the immense economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The slump extended declines from Thursday, when stocks erased early gains and finished negative after Trump announced the conference following China's approval of national-security legislation for Hong Kong.

Even with Friday's declines, major US indexes are on track to end the month higher. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average have gained more than 3%  in May, while the Nasdaq has risen more than 5%. 

Here's where US indexes stood at 12:30 p.m. ET  on Friday:

• S&P 500: 3,010.96, down 0.62%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 25,149.92, down 01% (250 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 9,360.96, down 0.09%

Read more: An elite 'ultra growth' investor explains how he's beating the market in 2020 — and analyzes 4 stocks he thinks will help him stay on top for the next 5 years

Tensions between the US and China have come back into the spotlight this week after Beijing moved to impose the national-security legislation. On Thursday, JPMorgan analyst Marko Kolanovic said stocks could trade "drastically lower" on the renewed tension, walking back a months-long bullish stance.  

On the economic front, US consumer spending dropped by 13.6% in April as the coronavirus pandemic kept businesses closed and people at home. The personal savings rate jumped to a record 33% from 12.7% as people looked to stockpile cash.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to participate in a virtual discussion later Friday that could give clues about the central bank's next policy steps.

Read more: A Wall Street firm studied every crash over the past 100 years — and concluded that the unusual performance of 7 tech stocks is masking the risk of a prolonged meltdown

Oil slumped but remained on track to post its best monthly performance ever. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 4%, to $32.36 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, declined 3.5%, to $34.06 per barrel.

Peet's Coffee raised $2.5 billion in an initial public offering that defied the pandemic, the company announced on Friday. The offering, which took only 10 days, was Europe's largest and the world's second-largest of 2020.

Read more: A part-time real-estate investor quit his traditional job 5 years after snagging his first deal. He shares his no-hassle strategy that's allowed him to travel the world with his 6 kids.