US open: Trump border wall threat, mixed data weigh on sentiment

Wall Street stumbled shortly after the start of trading amid mixed economic data and after president Donald Trump appeared to threatened with a shutdown of the federal government unless funding could be found for his initiative to extend the border wall with Mexico.

At 1513 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 0.28% or 60.44 points at 21,840.10, while the S&P 500 was falling 0.29% or 7.05 points to 2,445.44 and the Nasdaq Composite was retreating 0.32% or 20.06 points to 6,276.84.

Jasper Lawler, senior analyst at LCG, commented: "This is signature Donald Trump. We think this is basically a bluff by Trump to get his ‘Great Wall’ back on the agenda and show some political rebellion following his foreign policy capitulation in Afghanistan. Trump wouldn't want a government shutdown because he feels compelled to put across the image of America "winning" under his Presidency. A government shutdown symbolises failed leadership."

In economic news, new home sales in the States crashed by 9.4% on the month in July to reach an annualised pace of 571,000, which was well below the 610,000 forecast by economists.

Nevertheless, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics noted how data for the previous three months had been revised up by a combined 46,000.

"With the labor market strong, the biggest threat to the new homes market right now is the tightening of mortgage lending standards in recent months, though we don't expect that to continue," he added.

However, IHS Markit's composite manufacturing and service sector purchasing managers' index jumped from a reading of 54.7 for July to 56.9 in August - a 27-month high.

The service sector PMI was the reason behind the gain, rising from 54.7 in the month before to 56.9 - a 28-month high.

Still on the macroeconomic calendar, market participants were also be watching out for a speech by Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan in Texas. Kaplan is one of the policymakers that has become increasingly concerned about a lack of inflation and recently suggested he may be willing to wait before raising interest rates again.

In corporate news, Lowe's shares slumped after its second-quarter earnings and sales fell short of analysts' expectations. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.57 versus expectations of $1.61, while revenue was $19.5bn compared with an estimate of $19.53bn.

Cloud software company Salesforce.com on the other hand was on the front foot on the heels of better-than-expected earnings published late on Tuesday.

American Eagle Outfitters was higher after beating the Street consensus.

Dow Jones - Risers

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $142.96 1.39%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $48.59 0.51%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $106.89 0.49%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $80.39 0.46%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $91.97 0.45%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $116.16 0.41%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $33.26 0.33%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $31.37 0.32%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $83.22 0.25%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $62.55 0.21%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $147.67 -1.49%
3M Co. (MMM) $203.26 -1.07%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $133.46 -0.92%
General Electric Co. (GE) $24.39 -0.85%
Boeing Co. (BA) $238.04 -0.71%
Visa Inc. (V) $103.36 -0.68%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $115.03 -0.68%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $102.12 -0.63%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $53.84 -0.54%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $158.79 -0.53%

S&P 500 - Risers

Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $12.43 3.20%
CenturyLink Inc. (CTL) $20.32 2.11%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $88.36 1.97%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $10.76 1.85%
Alcoa Corporation (AA) $40.50 1.84%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $29.22 1.60%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $19.77 1.59%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $57.06 1.59%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $27.80 1.57%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $24.63 1.55%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW) $71.53 -5.66%
Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) $74.67 -4.43%
Stryker Corp. (SYK) $139.41 -4.19%
Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) $20.11 -3.78%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $31.09 -3.70%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $44.11 -2.86%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $51.95 -2.78%
Kansas City Southern (KSU) $105.80 -2.58%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $8.17 -2.51%
Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $46.07 -2.29%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $88.36 1.97%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $29.22 1.60%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $57.06 1.59%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $53.21 1.33%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $164.51 1.21%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $345.12 1.10%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $42.61 1.09%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $61.96 1.00%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $57.44 0.95%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $44.81 0.95%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $31.09 -3.70%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $44.11 -2.86%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $48.80 -2.24%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $152.43 -1.96%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $133.71 -1.79%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $135.90 -1.66%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $282.76 -1.38%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $33.93 -1.34%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $60.03 -1.33%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $136.34 -1.31%