Major US stock indexes ended the session in negative territory, which was due to the fall in quotes of almost all sectors, as well as concerns about a protracted trade war between the United States and China.

US President Donald Trump said Monday that the US is “not ready” to conclude a trade deal with China, but then added that he expects to conclude a trade agreement in the future. He also said that tariffs on imports from China could increase significantly. Trump's statements appeared after comments in the Chinese state newspaper Xinhua made it clear that China would not obey the demands of the United States to change its state economy. Disagreements between the two sides raised concerns that a protracted trade war would lead to a global economic downturn.

Meanwhile, consumer confidence data slightly improved investor sentiment. The Conference Board report showed that the US consumer confidence index improved in May to 134.1 from 129.2 in April. Analysts had expected the index to grow only to 130.0. According to the report, the current situation index, based on consumers ’assessment of current business and labor market conditions, rose from 169.0 to 175.2, while the expectations index, based on short-term consumer forecasts for income, business and labor market conditions, improved from 102.7 to 106.6.

On the other hand, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas showed that in May the business activity of Texas producers deteriorated sharply, contrary to the forecasted increase. According to the report, the manufacturing index of the Dallas Fed in May fell to -5.3 points from 2.0 points in April. Analysts had expected an increase to 5.8 points. Recall the index value below zero indicates a reduction in business activity.

Most of the components of DOW finished trading in the red (24 out of 30). Intel Corp shares were an outsider. (INTC; -2.32%). The growth leader was the shares of Visa Inc. (V; + 0.73%).

Almost all sectors of the S & P recorded a decline. The largest decline was shown by the health sector (-1.2%). Only the conglomerate sector grew (+ 0.1%).

At the time of closing:

Dow 25,347.77 -237.92 -0.93%

S & P 500 2,802.39 -23.67 -0.84%

Nasdaq 100 7,607.35 -29.66 -0.39%

S&P reported on Tuesday its Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which tracks home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas, rose 2.7 percent y-o-y in March, following an unrevised 3.0 percent y-o-y increase in February. That was the smallest annual advance in house prices since August 2012.

Economists had expected an advance of 2.8 percent y-o-y.

Las Vegas (+8.2 percent y-o-y), Phoenix (+6.1 percent y-o-y) and Tampa (+5.3 percent y-o-y) recorded the highest y-o-y gains in March.

Meanwhile, the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which measures all nine U.S. census divisions, was up 3.7 percent y-o-y in March, down from 3.9 percent y-o-y in the previous month.

David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, noted Given the broader economic picture, housing should be doing better. Mortgage rates are at 4% for a 30-year fixed rate loan, unemployment is close to a 50-year low, low inflation and moderate increases in real incomes would be expected to support a strong housing market. Measures of household debt service do not reveal any problems and consumer sentiment surveys are upbeat. The difficulty facing housing may be too-high price increases. At the currently lower pace of home price increases, prices are rising almost twice as fast as inflation: in the last 12 months, the S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller National Index is up 3.7%, double the 1.9% inflation rate. Measured in real, inflation-adjusted terms, home prices today are rising at a 1.8% annual rate. This compares to a 1.2% real annual price increases in housing since 1975.”

U.S. stock-index futures traded flat on Tuesday, as investors remained concerned about U.S.-China trade tensions.

Global Stocks:

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