Wall Street inches lower as China responds to US tariffs

US stock indices opened the third session of the week flat as concerns over an escalating US-China trade war cancelled out a strong earnings season.

China announced new 25% tariffs on $16 billion worth of US imports in retaliation to similar ones put by the Trump administration, expected to go into effect in late August simultaneously. 

Stock Performance 

As of 02:11 GMT, Standard and Poor's 500 shed 0.06%, or 1.75 points to 2,856.70, while Dow Jones slipped 0.13%, or 33.08 points to 25,595.83. 

Tech-heavy NASDAQ inched down 0.02%, or 1.36 points to 7,882.30. 

Otherwise, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin spoke earlier today at a town hall event in Virginia, where he lauded the the strong performance and outlook for the economy, with stellar growth, unemployment numbers, while wages are growing quickly.

Barkin believes that inflation is heading firmly towards the Federal Reserve's 2% target, while both business and consumer confidence continue to improve, in turn all allowing for the Fed to increase interest rates and tighten policy in a gradual manner.  

Last week, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to hold overnight interest raters unchanged at 1.75% to 2.0% as expected by analysts, while laying the groundwork for further policy tightening and normalization of the balance sheet in the months to come.