New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange ended in the red Friday at the end of a restless week, marked by the revival of the trade dispute between the United States and China and questions about the future trajectory of US monetary policy.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, lost 0.37% to 26,485.01 points.

Nasdaq, with its strong technological color, fell by 1.32% to 8,004.07 points and the broad S & P 500 index by 0.73% at 2,932.05 points.

Over the week the Dow Jones dropped 2.6%, its worst week since late May.

The Nasdaq and the S & P 500, down 3.9% and 3.1%, cashed their worst week of the year.

The escalation of tensions between Washington and Beijing, triggered Thursday by an unexpected tweet from the US president announcing new import taxes on Chinese products, weighed on all equity markets, from Tokyo to New York.

Before the announcement of the White House, the market was of the opinion that if the negotiations dragged on, "at least the two sides had returned to the negotiating table" and that the threat of additional tariffs was suspended, stresses Mr. Hogan.

"This fragile truce is now behind us and we have entered a new phase of the trade war," he adds.

Investors are especially worried that the new taxes will not directly affect the US portfolio and will significantly affect the economy of the world's largest economy. And, in turn, the global economy.

Assets deemed more secure, such as US Treasuries, benefited: as a sign of increased investor interest, the interest rate on 10-year debt retreated towards 2055 GMT to 1.844%, its lowest level since 2016.

"It is difficult to measure the economic impact" of the new trade sanctions, remarks Christopher Low of FTN Financial.

"As the head of the US central bank (Fed), Jerome Powell, said Wednesday, the outlook on the US economy are linked to what will happen in the rest of the world, and for now it is a big mystery, "he notes.

The European economy in particular, which exports a lot, could suffer significantly from the Sino-US trade war.

US multinationals could decide to pass on additional taxes to their customers, cash in on their margins, or change their supply chains. But "it's expensive and it does not happen one day," says Shawn Cruz de TDAmeritrade, for whom the commercial conflict is likely to affect the performance of companies in the third and fourth quarters.

This news certainly rebuffs the cards with regard to future decisions of the Fed, which could be required to act more strongly than expected to support growth.

In this respect, employment figures for the month of July show that the slowdown is beginning to be felt: the unemployment rate has remained stable at 3.7%, but job creation in the United States has decreased to 164,000 against 193,000 in June.

On a more positive note, the average hourly wage increased by 3.2% year-on-year in July, which helped support household consumption.

Between the Fed meeting on Wednesday and Donald Trump's tweet on Thursday, "we almost forgot about the multitude of corporate results," says Shawn Cruz.

"If we have good news on the trade front this weekend, we may be able to focus again on quarterly figures," he says.

Among the results of the day, the Chevron oil major lost 0.01% after reporting a mixed performance in the second quarter, with a profit up sharply, to $ 4.3 billion, but a figure business down 8%.

Its competitor ExxonMobil lost 0.98% after exceeding expectations despite a decline in net profit of 21% and a turnover down 6%.

© 2019 AFP