US stocks close week mixed as Trump accuses China of violating trade deal

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks closed the week mostly lower after US President Donald Trump accused China of violating a preliminary trade deal announced earlier this month, plunging global trade back into a state of uncertainty after a sigh of relief from a deal in Geneva.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.01%, or 0.48 points, to close at 5,911.69. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.32% to finish at 19,113.77.

The Dow on the other hand was up 0.13% to close at 42,270.07 points.

The mixed course followed Trump's shift in rhetoric concerning a trade deal with China.

The president said Friday that due to his tariffs, China was in "grave economic danger," with factories closed and "civil unrest."

He said he made a fast trade deal with China to "save them," and after that, the Chinese economy normalized.

"Everybody was happy! That is the good news!!! The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US," Trump wrote on social media.

China responded to the accusation by noting US chip restrictions, again urging Washington to "correct" the "erroneous" actions.

“Recently, China has repeatedly raised concerns with the US regarding its abuse of export control measures in the semiconductor sector and other related practices,” China's Washington Embassy's spokesperson Liu Pengyu was quoted by CNBC.

“China once again urges the US to immediately correct its erroneous actions, cease discriminatory restrictions against China, and jointly uphold the consensus reached at the high-level talks in Geneva,” he said.

Trump later said he would speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping “and hopefully we'll work that out."

On the macroeconomic data side, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index was unchanged in May at 52.2 points. The preliminary estimate for the month was revised up from 50.8.

Meanwhile, short-term inflation expectations inched to 6.6% in May from 6.5% during the previous month.

On the other hand, long-term inflation expectations fell to 4.2% in May from 4.4% in April, marking the first decline since December.