Wall Street ends mixed as China-U.S. tensions weigh
By Noel Randewich (Reuters) - Wall Street ended mixed on Friday in a mostly tame finish to a week of strong gains, as investors gauged China-U.S. tensions and amid ongoing uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery from the coronavirus. President Donald Trump's warning on Thursday that the U.S.

By Noel Randewich
(Reuters) - Wall Street ended mixed on Friday in a mostly tame finish to a week of strong gains, as investors gauged China-U.S. tensions and amid ongoing uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery from the coronavirus.
President Donald Trump's warning on Thursday that the U.S. would react strongly to China's plan for a national security law in Hong Kong has raised concerns over Washington and Beijing's possibly reneging on their Phase 1 trade deal.
Late in the session, stocks edged lower after the U.S. Commerce Department said it was adding 33 Chinese companies and other institutions to an economic blacklist for human rights violations and to address U.S. national security concerns.
The increasing rhetoric between Washington and Beijing has knocked Wall Street off multi-month highs, although the three main indexes still all rose around 3% for the week, fueled by optimism about an eventual coronavirus vaccine and the easing of virus-related curbs.
"We still think COVID-19 concerns are in the driver's seat, but we could see U.S.-China relations move back into the front seat," said Eric Freedman, chief investment officer at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
U.S. stock exchanges will be closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.
The Nasdaq index is down about 5% from its Feb. 19 record high, helped in recent weeks by gains in Microsoft
Real estate <.SPLRCR> led the S&P 500 sector indexes higher, while energy <.SPNY> dropped as oil prices sank about 3%. [O/R]
A drop in Chevron
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell 8.96 points, or 0.04%, to 24,465.16, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 6.94 points, or 0.24%, to 2,955.45, and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 39.71 points, or 0.43%, to 9,324.59.
Mixed earnings from retailers Walmart Inc
On Friday, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group
Nvidia
KKR & Co
Data analytics software maker Splunk Inc
(Reporting by Noel Randewich in Oakland, California; Additional reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru and Pawel Goraj in Gdansk; Editing by Leslie Adler)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
also read

France, Germany to agree to NATO role against Islamic State - sources | Reuters
By Robin Emmott and John Irish | BRUSSELS/PARIS BRUSSELS/PARIS France and Germany will agree to a U.S. plan for NATO to take a bigger role in the fight against Islamic militants at a meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday, but insist the move is purely symbolic, four senior European diplomats said.The decision to allow the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to join the coalition against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq follows weeks of pressure on the two allies, who are wary of NATO confronting Russia in Syria and of alienating Arab countries who see NATO as pushing a pro-Western agenda."NATO as an institution will join the coalition," said one senior diplomat involved in the discussions. "The question is whether this just a symbolic gesture to the United States

China's Xi says navy should become world class | Reuters
BEIJING Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for greater efforts to make the country's navy a world class one, strong in operations on, below and above the surface, as it steps up its ability to project power far from its shores.China's navy has taken an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with a rising star admiral taking command, its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and a new aircraft carrier launched last month.With President Donald Trump promising a US shipbuilding spree and unnerving Beijing with his unpredictable approach on hot button issues including Taiwan and the South and East China Seas, China is pushing to narrow the gap with the U.S. Navy.Inspecting navy headquarters, Xi said the navy should "aim for the top ranks in the world", the Defence Ministry said in a statement about his visit."Building a strong and modern navy is an important mark of a top ranking global military," the ministry paraphrased Xi as saying.