· Stocks were little changed on Friday as investors took a breather following a wild month of trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 41.03 points higher, or 0.1% at 26,403.28. The S&P 500 ended the day just above the flatline at 2,926.46 while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1% to 7,962.88.
The major indexes posted their worst monthly performance since May. The Dow fell 1.7% in August while the S&P 500 lost 1.8%. The Nasdaq pulled back 2.6%. U.S.-China trade relations intensified this month, rattling investors.
· The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered to be the best fear gauge on Wall Street, traded as high as 24.81 in August before pulling back to around 18. Investors also loaded up on traditionally safer assets such as gold and silver this month. The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) rose 8% in August while the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) surged 12.8%.
· European stocks closed higher on Friday after China struck an accommodating tone over its trade war with the U.S., while British opposition lawmakers plan to trigger an emergency debate to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the session 0.6% higher, with almost every sector in positive territory and China-exposed basic resources stocks jumping 2.5%.
Bucking Friday’s trend were Italian stocks, which fell on the back of new political developments in the country. Luigi Di Maio, leader of Italy’s Five-Star Movement, said on Friday his party would only enter a coalition with opposition PD if it agreed to a string of policy demands, denting hopes that some political stability would soon be restored in Rome.
· Stocks in Asia slipped in Monday morning trade as the latest round of U.S. and China tariffs kicked into effect over the weekend.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan shed 0.35% in early trade, as shares of conglomerate Softbank Group dropped 1.8%. The Topix index also fell 0.25%.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi declined 0.22% as LG Chem saw its stock drop about 3%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded fractionally lower.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index fell 0.11%.
U.S. tariffs went into effect Sunday on $112 billion of Chinese imports, while Beijing also began imposing retaliatory tariffs on some of the U.S. goods on its $75 billion target list.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that trade negotiations with China are still planned for September.
Reference: CNBC
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