Dow Jones Industrial Average Drops as Midnight Tariff Deadline Looms

Midnight Deadline

U.S. shares closed in red again on Thursday among uncertain trade negotiations between the US and China. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
fell 1[ads1]38.97 points, or 0.54%, finally at 25.828.36. The
S&P 500
Slide 8.70 points, or 0.30%, to close at 2870.72, and
Nasdaq Composite
lost 32.73 points, or 0.41%, finally at 7910.59.

While resellers from the two countries come to the table again, investors remain concerned if calls can avert higher rates before a Trump imposed midnight deadline. [19659004] China said it would take repeating measures if the United States followed through on its tariff threats, and also spoke up its economic resilience and ability to become a tariff increase. The market was hammered into early trading on Thursday on a "sell first, ask questions later", but recovered from the races at the end of the trade. LPL Financial s Ryan Detrick is not so concerned: "Although tariffs are increasing tomorrow, there is still time for a solution and minimal impact on the world economy," he wrote on Thursday, " But the clock is ticking and both sides still have some big differences to solve. "

Jamie Cox by Harris Financial Group believes there may be some opportunities to be created in the fog of the commercial war. "Many investors have been waiting to retire to distribute capital that was otherwise late to Q1 2019 – now you have the chance," he wrote. "No one really knows how the trading situation will turn out, but everyone should be able to find out if you liked it
Microsoft

(MSFT) at 130, you should love it at 125. "

Nevertheless, not all stocks lost. Barron's has selected some of today's top performers and recommended some ways to prepare your portfolio for both possible scenarios or escalation.

While all eyes are on trade now, recent economic data have suggested that inflation remains poorer and the labor market still seems to be healthy for the US

April Headline Producer Price Index (PPI) increased by 0.2 % from last month, a decline from March's 0.6% monthly growth, but largely in line with expectations, initial unemployment claims came in at 228,000 for the week ending May 4, lower than last week's 230,000, but over a Consensus estimate of 215,000, according to FactSet.

The four-week moving average of unemployed claims increased to 220,250, the third consecutive increase, despite the demand being well below 300,000, a key limit as v. is usually linked to a healthy labor market, according to Jim Baird of Plante Moran Financial Advisors .

"On the surface, the latest increase in claims after three consecutive weeks about 200,000 threshold may be linked, especially to the background of the downturn in the economy," Baird wrote on Thursday. "Nevertheless, the fact that the claims have remained tight around 230,000 for three consecutive weeks and do not continue to rise gives some assurance that the pace of layoffs is not accelerating."

Baird believes the latest volatility in claim data can also be partly attributed to the two holiday periods – Easter and Easter and school springs, all of which can happen to the figures.