Major US stock indices plummeted and moved to negative territory after US President Trump announced additional duties on imports of new goods from China.

Trump announced an additional 10% duty on goods from China in the amount of $ 300 billion, and noted that the additional duty will start on September 1. “We look forward to continuing a constructive dialogue with China on a trade agreement. We thought we made a deal with China three months ago, but unfortunately, China decided to review its terms. The next round of trade negotiations with China is still scheduled for September, ”said Trump.

Trump said that, in his opinion, Xi wants a trade agreement, but “to be honest, he is not fast enough.” Trump also said that the main burden of duties falls on China, not on American consumers, and added that “if China doesn’t want to trade with us anymore, that’s fine with me "

Trump later said that the latest rates could be raised above 25%. He also warned that he could lower or increase tariffs depending on how the negotiations go. Trump also said that new tariffs will be introduced for the "short-term" period.

Most DOW components completed trading in the red (23 out of 30). Outsiders were the shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS; -3.87%). The biggest gainers were International Business Machines Corporation (IBM; + 1.40%).

Almost all sectors of the S & P recorded a decline. The raw materials sector declined the most (-2.5%). Only the utilities sector grew (+ 0.9%).

At the time of closing:

Dow 26,583.42 -280.85 -1.05%

S & P 500 2,953.56 -26.82 -0.90%

Nasdaq 100 8,111.12  -64.30 -0.79%

The Commerce Department said on Thursday that construction spending fell 1.3 percent m-o-m in June after a revised 0.5 percent m-o-m drop in May (originally a 0.8 percent m-o-m decline). It was the largest drop since November 2018.

Economists had forecast construction spending increasing 0.5 percent m-o-m in June.

On a y-o-y basis, construction spending dropped 1.2 percent in June.

According to the report, investment in public construction tumbled 3.7 percent m-o-m (the largest monthly drop since March of 2002), while spending on private construction fell 0.5 percent m-o-m.

A report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed on Thursday the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded in July at a slower pace than in June.

The ISM's index of manufacturing activity came in at 51.2 percent last month, down 0.5 percentage point from the June reading of 51.7 percent, and beat economists' forecast for a 52.0 percent reading. That was the lowest reading since August 2016.

A reading above 50 percent indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 percent indicates contraction.

According to the report, the New Orders Index stood at 50.8 percent, a gain of 0.8 percentage point from the June reading, while the Inventories Index recorded 49.5 percent, an increase of 0.4 percentage point, and the Supplier Deliveries Index registered 53.3 percent, an advance of 2.6 percentage points. At the same time, the Production Index came in at 50.8 percent in June, a 3.3-percentage point drop compared to the June reading, and the Employment Index was at 51.7 percent, a decline of 2.8 percentage point.

Timothy R. Fiore, Chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee said, “The past relationship between the PMI and the overall economy indicates that the PMI for July (51.2 percent) corresponds to a 2.5-percent increase in real gross domestic product (GDP) on an annualized basis."

U.S. stock-index futures traded little-changed on Thursday, after the stocks fell the day before on Fed Chair Powell tempering expectations for further rate cuts. Market focus shifted back to corporate earnings

Global Stocks:

Wall Street. Stocks before the bell

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Advanced Micro (AMD) initiated with a Hold at The Benchmark Company

IBM (IBM) resumed with an Overweight at Morgan Stanley; target $170

General Motors (GM) reported Q2 FY 2019 earnings of $1.64 per share (versus $1.81 in Q2 FY 2018), beating analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.45.

The company’s quarterly revenues amounted to $36.060 bln (-1.9% y/y), generally in line with analysts’ consensus estimate of $36.025 bln.

GM rose to $41.41 (+2.65%) in pre-market trading.

Verizon (VZ) reported Q2 FY 2019 earnings of $1.23 per share (versus $1.20 in Q2 FY 2018), beating analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.23.

The company’s quarterly revenues amounted to $32.071 bln (-0.4% y/y), missing analysts’ consensus estimate of $32.420 bln.

VZ rose to $55.95 (+1.23%) in pre-market trading.

DuPont (DD) reported Q2 FY 2019 earnings of $0.97 per share (versus $1.37 in Q2 FY 2018), beating analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.82.

The company’s quarterly revenues amounted to $5.468 bln (-6.6% y/y), missing analysts’ consensus estimate of $5.631 bln.

The company issued in-line guidance for FY 2019, projecting EPS of $3.75-3.85 versus analysts’ consensus estimate of $3.80.

DD rose to $73.48 (+1.83%) in pre-market trading.