Stocks - S&P Falls as U.S.-China Trade Trouble Persists

Investing.com - U.S. stocks closed lower on reports U.S.-China trade talks had stalled, with both sides upping the ante in recent days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.38%, the S&P 500 lost 0.58%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.04%.

Trade-sensitive industrials led the declines in the broader market, falling more 1% after CNBC reported that the scheduling of discussions for the next round of trade talks have been put on hold.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) and 3M (NYSE:MMM) ended in the red, but Boeing (NYSE:BA) eked out a gain, shrugging off trade jitters after the aircraft maker completed the software update for its 737 Max plane, which was grounded following two recent fatal crashes.

U.S.-China trade relations soured following President Donald Trump's earlier decision this week to ban U.S. companies from using Huawei technology. Beijing hit back, threatening to walk away from trade talks and accusing the U.S. of lacking a sincere desire to end the trade war,

"If there is no real concrete action by the United States, it will be meaningless for you to come and talk," said Taoran Notes, a social media account tied to Economic Daily, a state-run newspaper. "It is better to suspend the consultation completely and return to the normal working track."

The comments referred to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's intention to travel to Beijing to continue talks.

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