US STOCKS-Wall St drops Trump's trade comments, weak consumer data
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* September Consumer Confidence Data Fewer Than Expected
* Retail, Amazon.com drops by data [19659004] * Energy sector falls 1% as oil prices fall
* Indexes down: Dow 0.05%, S&P 0.19%, Nasdaq 0.65% (Add comment, details)
By Ambar Warrick and Arjun Panchadar
24. September (Reuters) – US stocks plunged Tuesday after President Donald Trump delivered a stinging rebuke of China's trade practices, while disappointing consumer confidence data raised concerns about the impact of a protracted trade war between the two nations.
Trump said he would not accept a "bad deal" in the trade talks and that Beijing had failed to keep its promises as China joined the World Trade Organization. "The economic data cut the rise to half past 10, and the tone against China (that) President Trump's speech at the UN General Assembly certainly took some of the optimism out of the air," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York.
Wall Store's large indices opened higher for positive comments on trade talks by Secretary of Finance Steven Mnuchin, but slipped after data showed that US consumer confidence for September fell the most in nine months, to a reading of 125.1, well below economists' expectations of 133.5.
Retail sales fell 0.6%, while a 1.2% drop in e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc was the biggest hit of the S&P 500 from the Nasdaq.
The report is a little worrying, said Everett Millman, a precious metals specialist at Gainesville Coins in Lutz, Florida, especially as "consumer confidence has been quite high at least in the United States."
Investors will now look at other data due later this week, including the Fed's preferred measure of inflation, for more clues about the strength of the US economy.
Kl. 12:17 pm ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 12.19 points, or 0.05%, at 26,937.80, the S&P 500 was down 5.72 points, or 0.19%, at 2,986.06. The Nasdaq Composite was down 52.48 points, or 0.65%, at 8,059.98.
Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with the energy sector down 1.13%, tracking an oil price fall.
Only the defensive consumer staples, tools and properties were higher.
Apple Inc was a bright spot, gaining 0.4% after Jefferies assumed coverage with a "buy" rating and highlighted the iPhone manufacturer's 5G potential.
Netflix Inc's video streaming platform dropped 3.4% to an almost nine-month low after Pivotal Research cut its price target.
Nike Inc fell 0.4%, ahead of the world's largest sportswear manufacturer for the first quarter after clock.
Sinking questions outperformed those for a 1.31-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.42-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 31 new 52-week highs and a new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 35 new highs and 68 new lows. (Reporting by Ambar Warrick, Arjun Panchadar and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
