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BUSINESS Tuesday 15 OcTOber 2019
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Stocks stall in midday trading as caution lingers over trade

By DAMIAN J. TROISE week and China agreed to China last week, but uncer-
Associated Press buy more farm goods. But tainty remains over wheth-
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks the U.S. has yet to cancel er they can ink a broader
stalled in midday trading plans for more tariffs in De- deal. The U.S. agreed to
on Wall Street Monday as cember and the nations still suspend a planned hike in
investors remain cautious have several complicated tariffs on $250 billion of Chi-
about the prospects of a issues to negotiate. nese goods that had been
full trade agreement be- Bond markets and the U.S. set to kick in Tuesday. Bei-
tween the U.S. and China. government were closed jing, meanwhile, agreed to
Technology and health for the Columbus Day holi- buy $40 billion to $50 billion
care stocks were posting day. in U.S. farm products.
some solid gains even as KEEPING SCORE: The S&P The truce was a result of
the energy sector fell be- 500 index was unchanged the 13th round of negotia-
cause of a decline in the as of 11:50 a.m. Eastern tions between the nations
price of crude oil. time. The Dow Jones Indus- since the trade war began
The market started shift- trial Average rose 22 points, well over a year ago. The
ing sideways after falling in or 0.1%, to 26,839. The Nas- In this Oct. 7, 2019, file photo specialists Mario Picone, left, and key sticking points of intel-
the early going. The muted daq rose 0.1%. Small-com- Anthony Rinaldi work on the floor of the New York Stock Ex- lectual property and trade
trading follows a rally Friday pany stocks did worse than change. secrets still hang over the
that pushed the market to the rest of the market. The Associated Press dispute.
a weekly gain after three Russell 2000 index lost 0.3%. The overall picture hasn't
straight weeks of losses. OVERSEAS: European mar- readies trade sanctions on subsidies to the airplane changed for companies,
Washington and Beijing kets fell. The European up to $7.5 billion worth of maker Airbus. which are still holding off on
agreed to a truce following Union faces a potential goods. The tariffs are set to TRADE UNCERTAINTY: Inves- forecasts and investments
talks last week. The U.S. held trade war with the U.S. as go into effect Friday and tors applauded the prog- because of the uncertain
off on tariffs set to kick in this the Trump administration stem from a dispute over ress made by the U.S. and trade situation.q
China's auto sales sink 6.3% in September

By JOE MCDONALD Washington and cooling porting negative growth
BEIJING (AP) — China's economic growth. every month since June
auto sales sank 6.3% in Sep- Sales of sedans, SUVs and 2018.
tember from a year earlier minivans in the global in- Sales of electric cars fell to
and purchases of electric dustry's biggest market fell 80,000 units, hurt by a de-
cars tumbled 34.2% at a to 1.9 million, according to cline in government subsi-
time when the industry is the China Association of dies that helped to make
spending heavily to meet Automobile Manufactur- China the biggest market
government sales quo- ers, an industry group. Total for electrics.
tas for the technology, an sales, including trucks and Brands are spending heav-
industry group reported buses, retreated 5.2% to 2.3 ily to meet government
Monday. million. sales quotas. Beijing is shift-
The global industry's big- Demand has suffered from ing the burden to auto-
gest market is on track to consumer jitters over a makers by requiring them
contract for second year, trade war with Washing- to earn credits for selling
dragged down by weak ton and slowing economic electrics without subsidies. In this Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, file photo, motorists are clogged
consumer demand in the growth. That raises the cost to buy- with heavy traffic on a city ring road in Beijing.
face of a tariff war with The industry has been re- ers. q Associated Press