NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is drifting in early trading, even after getting a double-shot of encouraging news on the economy. The S&P 500 was off 0.2% in early trading Thursday after President Donald Trump upped the stakes in his trade war, with his most recent threat to tax European wines and spirits. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 149 points, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. Stocks have been turbulent because of uncertainty about how much pain Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies in order to reshape the country and world as he wants.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Wall Street, already on edge over the next tariff announcements from President Donald Trump, turned lower early Thursday ahead of the latest data on inflation and layoffs.
Futures for the S&P 500 lost 0.4% while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%. Nasdaq futures slid 0.5%.
One of the big gainers overnight was Intel, which climbed more than 11% after naming former board member and semiconductor industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as its CEO. Tan, 65, will take over the daunting job next week, more than three months after Intel’s previous CEO, Pat Gelsinger, abruptly retired amid a deepening downturn at the once-dominant chipmaker.
On the losing side early Thursday was American Eagle Outfitters, which beat fourth-quarter sales and profit expectations but acknowledged that an “uncertain consumer and operating landscape" was stifling demand in the current quarter. The company's lukewarm guidance gave investors pause and American Eagle shares fell 9% before the opening bell.
Uncertainty has been the theme in recent weeks, with markets whipsawing back-and-forth every time President Donald Trump announces — or delays — a new round of tariffs. Markets have been rattled as investors and economists try to determine how much pain Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies.
The European Union, Canada and China have all responded to Trump's tariff announcement with retaliatory tariffs of their own.
Even if Trump ultimately goes with milder tariffs, damage could still be done. The dizzying barrage of on -again, off -again announcements on tariffs has already begun sapping confidence among U.S. consumers and businesses by ramping up uncertainty. That could cause U.S. households and businesses to spend less, slowing economic growth.
Some U.S. businesses say they’ve already begun seeing a change in behavior among their customers.
Coming later Thursday is the latest government data on inflation at the wholesale level and a report on the number of Americans who applied for jobless benefits last week.
In European trading, Germany's DAX lost 0.4% at midday, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.1%. Britain's FTSE 100 was flat.
Chinese markets led a broad decline in Asia as investors watched for the next steps in President Trump’s trade war. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.6% to 23,462.65, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.4% to 3,358.73.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gave up early gains to close 0.1% lower at 37,790.03.
South Korea's Kospi edged 0.1% lower, to 2,573.64. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5% to 7,749.10.
Taiwan's Taiex shed 1.4% and the Sensex in India edged 0.1% lower. Bangkok's SET rose 0.1%.
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Elaine Kurtenbach And Matt Ott, The Associated Press
