Stocks fall as US, EU clash over support for aerospace giants
Stocks declined Tuesday amid a brewing tariff conflict between the U.S. and the European Union over government support for Boeing and Airbus.
The European bloc threatened to prepare its own tariffs against the U.S. for allegedly providing illegal subsidies to Boeing, one day after the U.S. proposed to impose tariffs worth $11 billion on a slew of European goods, a direct retaliation for the EU's alleged illegal subsidies to Airbus.
Daniel Rosario, a spokesperson for the European Commission, said the European governing body remains open to discussions, so long as they’re not based on preconditions.
"The Commission is starting preparations so that the EU can promptly take action based on the arbitrator's decision on retaliation rights in this case,” Rosario said.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 37986.4 | +211.02 | +0.56% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 4967.23 | -43.89 | -0.88% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15282.009722 | -319.49 | -2.05% |
Besides Airbus aircraft, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said Monday it could place tariffs on famous cheeses like Stilton, Roquefort and Gouda, wines and oysters, ceramics, knives and pajamas.
The dust-up over subsidies for aerospace giants comes as Washington and Beijing work to reach a wide-ranging trade agreement that would end a damaging tariff conflict between the two nations.
Shares of industrial companies and banks paced decliners.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PNR | PENTAIR PLC | 78.56 | +0.07 | +0.09% |
| X | UNITED STATES STEEL CORP. | 38.59 | -0.35 | -0.90% |
| GE | GE AEROSPACE | 148.09 | -4.86 | -3.18% |
| WFC | WELLS FARGO & CO. | 60.35 | +1.61 | +2.75% |
| BAC | BANK OF AMERICA CORP. | 36.97 | +1.21 | +3.38% |
The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for economic growth in the Europe, the U.S. and Japan to 3.3 percent from 3.5 percent.
A few big-cap consumer and tech corporations bucked the downtrend on Wall Street, led by Facebook on some upbeat analyst commentary and also by Cerner, a health information technology company.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CERN | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| FB | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| NFLX | NETFLIX INC. | 555.04 | -55.52 | -9.09% |
The price of crude oil fell some 0.43 percent, which weighed on petroleum exploration and production companies.
China's Shanghai Composite closed slightly lower, falling 0.16 percent. The Hang Seng ended up 0.27 percent, and Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.19 percent higher.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP
Britain's FTSE 100 was off 0.23 percent. France's CAC 40 declined 0.38 percent, and Germany's DAX fell 0.68 percent.