US open: Dow struggling to avoid longest losing streak in 40 years

Wall Street's main market gauges were trading on a mixed note on Friday, with investors doing their best to set aside their concerns about the trade spat between the US and China, but seemingly encountering some resistance from the White House.

As of 1526 BST, and following eight sessions of losses, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 0.48% or 121.61 points at 24,583.31, alongside a gain of 0.25% or 6.76 points to 2,756.36 for the S&P 500, but the Nasdaq Composite was down by 0.41% or 30.98 points to 7.681.86.

If the Dow finished in the red for a ninth consecutive session that would mark its longest losing streak in 40 years.

Helping to boost investor sentiment perhaps, according to Bloomberg some US administration officials were pushing for a last-minute rapprochement between Beijing and Washington before the first US tariffs kicked-in on 6 July - but they were said to be facing stiff opposition.

However, shortly after the 'opening bell' President Donald Trump tweeted that the US would place a 20% levy on European cars if Europe did not lower and remove its tariffs and barriers soon.

"The Dow Jones and S&P 500 are higher as oil and gas stocks lead the charge. Global sentiment is positive and this has played a role in the rally of US stocks too. For the time being, the Opec announcement has taken traders’ minds off the trade tensions. It is worth remembering that we are no closer to an agreement between the US and China, and now President Trump has threatened to impose a 20% tariff on all cars imported from the EU. As we saw with China, the US markets are likely to handle the situation better that their European counterparts," said David Madden at CMC Capital Markets UK.

From a sector standpoint, the worst performing segments of the market were: Automobiles (-2.39%), Industrial Suppliers (-2.26%) and Oil Equipment Services (-1.60%).

Also weighing on sentiment a tad, IHS Markit's widely-tracked factory sector Purchasing Managers' Index for June slipped to a reading of 54.6, down from May's print of 56.4 - to a seven-month low.

Nevertheless, together with the results of its services sector PMI, the survey compiler said the two were evidence that the US economy was enjoying a "strong second quarter" with the rate of expansion in GDP over the second quarter likely well over 3%.

Oil prices were also in focus after OPEC+ announced that it would boost output by 1.0m barrels a day, on paper, which in practice was expected to result in increased output of between roughly 0.6-0.7m b/d, according to various sources.

Tellingly however, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were climbing by 3.63% to $68.01 a barrel after the announcement.

In corporate news, shares of software company Red Hat were plummeting after it issued weaker-than-expected guidance for the second quarter late on Thursday.

Still, Madden said the stock has been in a solid upward trend since February 2016 so the pullback might entice new buyers.

Elsewhere, used car seller CarMax jumped after posting first quarter earnings per share of $1.33 (consensus: $1.2) on sales of $4.792bn (consensus: $4.605bn).