Dow Nears Session Lows; Trump Stokes U.S.-China Tensions By Investing.com

By Yasin Ebrahim 

Investing.com – The Dow continued to languish at the lows of the day on Friday, paced by declines in Amazon and Apple, after their earnings reports failed to live up to investor expectations, and fresh worries over U.S.-China tensions.

The {{169|Dow Jones Industrial Average}} fell 2.36%, the lost 2.83%, while the fell 3.35%.

With many seeing the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic in the rearview mirror, investors sentiment was dealt a blow as President Donald Trump renewed the prospect of a fresh U.S.-China conflict.  

Trump insisted Beijing would be held accountable for its role in the pandemic after alleging that the virus originated from a lab in China.

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told CNBC there was “no question” Trump would follow through on his threat.

On the earnings front, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:) fell 5% after the e-commerce giant late Thursday reported lower first-quarter earnings and warned of an operating loss of $1.5 billion in the second quarter due to a jump in Covid-19-related expenses.

Apple (NASDAQ:), meanwhile, fell 0.8%, after reporting flat revenue growth. It did not offer guidance for the June quarter, citing coronavirus uncertainty.

(NASDAQ:), meanwhile, slumped 8% after the manufacturer reported a decline in quarterly earnings and revenue.

Energy stocks, meanwhile, were among the biggest decliners, shrugging off a climb in oil prices as major oil-producing countries got their agreed output cuts underway in a bid to offset falling demand.

Elsewhere, Tesla (NASDAQ:) slumped 8.7% after CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the stock price was “too high.” The remark comes just days after the electric automaker reported a surprise quarterly profit.