U.S. equities and stock ETFs were flat Thursday as traders mulled over data that revealed U.S. economic growth softened over the last quarter of 2018 and an abrupt end to the U.S.-North Korea summit.
After somewhat recovering from the earlier pullback on Thursday, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) was up 0.1%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEArca: DIA) was down 0.1% and SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY) was flat in mid-day trading.
According to the Commerce Department, gross domestic product, a measure of how much U.S. produces in goods and services, increased at a 2.6% annual rate for the last three months of 2018, compared tot he 3.4% growth rate over the third quarter and an impressive 4.2% rate in the second quarter, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, argued that the fourth quarter results may have been affected by the the partial government shutdown and lingering concerns over a trade deal between the U.S. and China.
“It’s imperative that we get a trade deal, otherwise I’m afraid the economy could grow at a slower pace,” Cardillo told the WSJ. “I believe we will get some sort of a resolution despite some of the hawks who are pressing for a strong deal. I doubt that’s achievable, but somewhere in the middle of the road is possible, and that will help the odds of a recession drop substantially in 2020.”
Technology stocks were among the laggards in U.S. markets, with HP Inc (NasdaqGS: HPQ) plunging 18.5% after reporting an earnings miss for the latest quarter.
President Donald Trump also cut short a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Thursday in Vietnam after failing to reach an agreement to reduce North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program and lifts on sanctions.
For more information on the markets, visit our current affairs category.