US open: Mixed open on the Street as China trade talks continue

Wall Street trading opened somewhat mixed on Friday as investors continued to scan the headlines coming from the second round of trade talks between China and the US.

As of 1500 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial had picked up 0.08%, however, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had lost 0.15% and 0.27%, respectively.

Just one of many pieces of news coming out of the US' trade talks with China came in the form of China rowing back on its initial response to the US administration's threats of trade tariffs, announcing the end of its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into US exports of sorghum.

Over in fixed income markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury was off by one basis point at 3.10% but remained 13 basis points higher for the week.

No major economic releases were slated for Friday, although speeches from regional Fed presidents Loretta Mester and Robert Kaplan were scheduled.

On the corporate front, chip equipment maker Applied Materials dropped 8.45% after the company issued lower-than-expected guidance for earnings per share and sales in the next quarter.

Overnight, Applied Materials told analysts they could expect fiscal third quarter revenues to come in at between $4.33bn to $4.53bn, versus a consensus estimate of $4.53bn.

Shares in Deere & Co. on the other hand, were 2.55% higher after the manufacturer of agricultural equipment, despite posting lower than forecast EPS and sales for its second fiscal quarter.

Stock in Campbell Soup fell 11.66% after slashing its full-year guidance and announcing the exit of its chief executive officer.

AmTrust shares picked up 3.43% after activist Carl Icahn disclosed he had amassed 9.4% of the company's equity.