Morning Report 15 Feb 19 ; US Stocks rattled after weaker retails sales report

 

 US sharemarkets rebounded from lows early in the session. Weak retail sales data weighed on the shares of retailers. But there was ongoing optimism about US-China trade talks. Reports suggest that President Trump can extend the March 1 deadline for a trade deal. Without a deal there would be a sharp lift in tariffs applied on Chinese goods. With an hour of trade to go the Dow Jones index was lower by 30 points or 0.1% after earlier being down 235 points. The S&P500 index was flat. And the Nasdaq index was higher by 23 points or 0.3%.

 

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