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Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Energy, IT and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.27%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG), which rose 10.34% or 0.165 points to trade at 1.760 at the close. Meanwhile, Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (ASX:SAR) added 9.51% or 0.330 points to end at 3.800 and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) was up 9.00% or 0.440 points to 5.330 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Boral Ltd. (ASX:BLD), which fell 19.35% or 0.960 points to trade at 4.000 at the close. G8 Education Ltd (ASX:GEM) declined 16.06% or 0.440 points to end at 2.300 and Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX:MYX) was down 8.57% or 0.045 points to 0.480.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 805 to 388 and 337 ended unchanged.

Shares in Boral Ltd. (ASX:BLD) fell to 5-year lows; falling 19.35% or 0.960 to 4.000.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 15.80% to 17.176.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.93% or 14.35 to $1551.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 1.13% or 0.61 to hit $53.56 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 0.88% or 0.52 to trade at $58.28 a barrel.

AUD/USD was down 0.23% to 0.6738, while AUD/JPY fell 0.07% to 70.90.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 97.542.

Investing.com - The latest escalation in the U.S.-China trade war is likely to dominate investors’ attention this week and a fresh batch of data will give markets more insight into the economic impact of the conflict. Markets will also be watching a gathering of Western leaders at the G7 summit at a time of major divisions over trade, climate change, exchange rates, government spending, Brexit and dealings with China, Iran and Russia.

Here’s what you need to know to start your week.

1. Trade tit-for-tat

China said on Saturday it strongly opposes Washington's decision to levy additional tariffs on $550 billion worth of Chinese goods and warned the U.S. of consequences if it does not end its "wrong actions".

The comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced an additional 5% duty on $550 billion in Chinese imports in the latest tit-for-tat trade war escalation by the world's two largest economies.

The year-long trade war has roiled financial markets with bond markets indicating the chances of a recession are mounting.

Trump linked his spats with China and the Federal Reserve together on Friday, tweeting that the Fed is not helping with easier rate policy and asking “who is the bigger enemy” — China President Xi Jinping or Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

2. G7 summit

French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting the Aug. 24-26 G7 summit in Biarritz and has put climate change center-stage for the event. But on that and most other subjects, Trump is an outlier. Locked in a trade war with China, he has floated the idea of tariffs on imports from the EU and elsewhere, and his suggestion to re-admit Russia to the G7 has met with opposition from other members.

Macron's new tax on U.S. tech firms has also irked Trump, who has threatened retaliation on French wine exports.

Another issue investors will watch for is whether any mention is made of fiscal stimulus, above all in Germany, something Chancellor Angela Merkel has hesitated over.

3. U.S. economic data

The second reading of U.S. gross domestic product on Thursday largely contains tweaks to data already in plain view – consumer spending, business investment and inventories. An initial estimate showed the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.1% in the second quarter, slowing from 3.1% in the first three months of the year.

Durable goods data is released on Monday and will give insights into U.S. manufacturing activity and capital spending. Thursday’s trade data will show where the deficit with China stood in July. Investors will also be able to parse reports on consumer confidence, pending home sales and the PCE price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation indicator.

4. Eurozone inflation

Amid concerns that the German economy could slide into recession in the third quarter, Monday’s Ifo survey of the country’s business climate will be closely watched.

An advance reading of euro zone inflation at the end of the week is expected to underscore the need for more measures to kick-start price growth. Data since the European Central Bank last met has been dismal, and accounts of its July 25 meeting have reinforced that the bank is preparing to unleash support.

A weak inflation reading will likely stir debate about the need to amend the ECB's inflation target, in favor of a more flexible goal that would open the door to even bigger stimulus. The data might also re-ignite calls for Germany to start spending more.

5. Retail earnings

Investors will get another look at retail earnings this week when electronics retailer Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and discount retailer Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) report quarterly results.

Robust retail sales and strong retail earnings have been a bright spot for the U.S. economy this month, helping to ease fears over the risk of a recession against a background of heightened trade tensions and signs of slowing global growth.

Target's (NYSE:TGT) shares hit record highs last week after its second-quarter earnings beat estimates, but Home Depot (NYSE:HD) warned of slowing sales growth partly due to the potential impact from the upcoming batch of tariffs from the U.S.-China trade war.

--Reuters contributed to this report

Investing.com - Litecoin was trading at $64.945 by 02:31 (06:31 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Sunday, down 14.19% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since February 24.

The move downwards pushed Litecoin's market cap down to $4.610B, or 1.72% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Litecoin's market cap was $14.099B.

Litecoin had traded in a range of $63.442 to $73.412 in the previous twenty-four hours.

Over the past seven days, Litecoin has seen a stagnation in value, as it only moved 0.08%. The volume of Litecoin traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $2.116B or 4.32% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $58.5524 to $78.7617 in the past 7 days.

At its current price, Litecoin is still down 84.54% from its all-time high of $420.00 set on December 12, 2017.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading

Bitcoin was last at $10,055.3 on the Investing.com Index, down 2.75% on the day.

Ethereum was trading at $188.12 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 1.66%.

Bitcoin's market cap was last at $180.600B or 67.45% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $20.359B or 7.60% of the total cryptocurrency market value.

Investing.com - Stellar fell bellow the $0.06771 level on Saturday. Stellar was trading at 0.06771 by 06:52 (10:52 GMT) on the Investing.com Index, down 0.83% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since August 24.

The move downwards pushed Stellar's market cap down to $1.33504B, or 0.50% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Stellar's market cap was $12.12000B.

Stellar had traded in a range of $0.06757 to $0.06978 in the previous twenty-four hours.

Over the past seven days, Stellar has seen a stagnation in value, as it only moved 1.29%. The volume of Stellar traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $111.41144M or 0.21% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $0.0656 to $76.4771 in the past 7 days.

At its current price, Stellar is still down 99.91% from its all-time high of $76.48 set on August 23.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading

Bitcoin was last at $9,980.0 on the Investing.com Index, down 1.37% on the day.

Ethereum was trading at $187.65 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 1.27%.

Bitcoin's market cap was last at $179.22035B or 67.46% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $20.31014B or 7.65% of the total cryptocurrency market value.

Investing.com – Stocks tumbled Friday as the U.S.-China trade dispute intensified and President Donald Trump announced he was ordering U.S. companies with China facilities to move them somewhere else.

The S&P 500 fell 2.59%. The Dow was off nearly 2.37%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 3.0%. The Nasdaq 100, heavily influenced by some of the biggest names in technology, dropped about 3.15%.

The losses were the third worst point loss for the S&P 500 this year and the fourth-worst daily point losses for the Dow and the Nasdaq.

The three big S&P 500 losses have occurred in August.

The Dow, meanwhile, had fallen as many as 745 points during the session before last-minute bargain hunting trimmed the day's losses.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), whose growth is tied to growth in its China business, was off more than 4.6%. Most big-tech stocks were off by similar amounts. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) fell about 7.4%. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), whose chips speed up graphics applications, fell 5.3%.

The Trump order, announced on Twitter and whose enforceability is questionable, came after China announced it would raise tariffs on a variety of U.S. products, including cars and farm products. The president said U.S. manufacturers should move their Chinese operations elsewhere or bring jobs back to the United States.

After the close, President Trump retaliated against China's tariff move, saying he's raising tariffs to 30% on some Chinese imports after Beijing said it would place added tariffs on U.S. goods. It wasn't clear how the move will affect markets on Monday.

The order also came after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told a Jackson Hole, Wyo., conference that the Fed stood ready to provide stimulus to the economy if needed. Trump didn't like the speech because it did not signal an aggressive interest-rate cut at the Fed's next meeting in September.

In a tweet, Trump asked, "My only question is, who is our biggest enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?” Chairman Xi being Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.

The 10-Year Treasury yield fell to 1.52%, down from 1.61% on Thursday. The spread between the 10-year note yield and the yield on the 2-year Treasury note widened to 0.13 basis points.

Twenty-nine of the 30 Dow stocks were lower, with the Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), the sole gainer, up 1.1%. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the biggest loser.

Twenty-nine of the 30 Dow stocks were lower, with the Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), the sole gainer, up 1.1%. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the biggest loser.

Only Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and NetEase Inc (NASDAQ:NTES) finished in the black among Nasdaq-100 stocks, with Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS), AMD and Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXN) the biggest losers.

Just nine S&P 500 stocks were higher, led by Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), Newmont Goldcorp (NYSE:NEM), Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and Boeing (NYSE:BA). Foot Locker (NYSE:FL), which reported very disappointing earnings Friday, L Brands (NYSE:LB) and Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) were the weakest S&P 500 performers.

While the major averages are sporting yearly gains of more than 10%, the market continues to be buffeted from volatility in large because of the increasingly tense U.S.-China trade battle and President Trump's angry tweets.

The Dow has seen six daily losses of 280 points or more in August alone.

Friday's selloff wiped out weekly gains for much of the U.S. stock market. The S&P 500 was off 1.4%, with the Dow dropping 1% and the Nasdaq 1.8%.

With a week to go in August, the S&P 500 is down 4.47%, with the Dow down 4.6% and the Nasdaq off 5.2%. August is likely to be the second-worst month of the year for the indexes.

Only Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and NetEase Inc (NASDAQ:NTES) finished in the black among Nasdaq-100 stocks, with Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS), AMD and Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXN) the biggest losers.

Just nine S&P 500 stocks were higher, led by Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), Newmont Goldcorp (NYSE:NEM), Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and Boeing (NYSE:BA). Foot Locker (NYSE:FL), which reported very disappointing earnings Friday, L Brands (NYSE:LB) and Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) were the weakest S&P 500 performers.

While the major averages are sporting yearly gains of more than 10%, the market continues to be buffeted from volatility in large because of the increasingly tense U.S.-China trade battle and President Trump's angry tweets.

The Dow has seen six daily losses of 280 points or more in August alone.

Friday's selloff wiped out weekly gains for much of the U.S. stock market. The S&P 500 was off 1.4%, with the Dow dropping 1% and the Nasdaq 1.8%.

With a week to go in August, the S&P 500 is down 4.47%, with the Dow down 4.6% and the Nasdaq off 5.2%. August is likely to be the second-worst month of the year for the indexes.

Investing.com – Canada stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Energy, Industrials and IT sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite declined 1.33%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Cargojet Inc (TSX:CJT), which rose 12.86% or 11.66 points to trade at 102.33 at the close. Meanwhile, Yamana Gold Inc (TSX:YRI) added 10.02% or 0.44 points to end at 4.83 and Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX:PVG) was up 9.65% or 1.59 points to 18.06 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Birchcliff Energy Ltd . (TSX:BIR), which fell 9.39% or 0.20 points to trade at 1.93 at the close. NuVista Energy Ltd . (TSX:NVA) declined 9.09% or 0.150 points to end at 1.500 and MEG Energy Corp (TSX:MEG) was down 7.98% or 0.40 points to 4.61.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 806 to 292 and 103 ended unchanged.

Shares in Cargojet Inc (TSX:CJT) rose to all time highs; up 12.86% or 11.66 to 102.33. Shares in Yamana Gold Inc (TSX:YRI) rose to 52-week highs; up 10.02% or 0.44 to 4.83. Shares in NuVista Energy Ltd. (TSX:NVA) fell to all time lows; losing 9.09% or 0.150 to 1.500. Shares in Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX:PVG) rose to all time highs; gaining 9.65% or 1.59 to 18.06.

The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was up 18.47% to 15.20.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 1.87% or 28.25 to $1536.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 2.53% or 1.40 to hit $53.95 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 1.32% or 0.79 to trade at $59.13 a barrel.

CAD/USD was up 0.21% to 0.7531, while CAD/EUR fell 0.38% to 0.6756.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.52% at 97.550.

Investing.com - PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC) fell by 3.11% to trade at $122.48 by 15:55 (19:55 GMT) on Friday on the NYSE exchange.

The volume of PNC Financial shares traded since the start of the session was 1.35M. PNC Financial has traded in a range of $122.47 to $126.99 on the day.

The stock has traded at $129.6700 at its highest and $122.4800 at its lowest during the past seven days.

Investing.com - American Express (NYSE:AXP) fell by 4.13% to trade at $117.19 by 15:54 (19:54 GMT) on Friday on the NYSE exchange.

The volume of American Express shares traded since the start of the session was 3.71M. American Express has traded in a range of $117.22 to $122.01 on the day.

The stock has traded at $126.1500 at its highest and $117.1900 at its lowest during the past seven days.

Investing.com - BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) fell by 3.03% to trade at $406.32 by 15:52 (19:52 GMT) on Friday on the NYSE exchange.

The volume of BlackRock shares traded since the start of the session was 639.07K. BlackRock has traded in a range of $406.18 to $418.97 on the day.

The stock has traded at $427.9400 at its highest and $406.0600 at its lowest during the past seven days.

By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com – It was bad enough that Fed Chair Jay Powell decided not to give investors a clue on where he thought interest rates were headed.

China and President Donald Trump had to make it a one-two punch for oil and other markets on Friday. China announced a new 10% tariff on $75 billion of U.S. products, including crude, and President Trump got mad and announced he was ordering U.S. companies to move their manufacturing facilities somewhere else.

New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.18, or 2.1%, to settle at $54.17 per barrel, reacting to the lack of clarity by the Federal Reserve on monetary policy as well as Beijing’s latest salvo in its tit-for-tat tariffs war with Washington.

London-traded Brent crude, the benchmark for oil outside of the U.S., slid 58 cents, or 0.8%, to $59.34, staying below the key $60 per barrel level.

Barring Friday’s move, oil prices could spend an extended time boxed in sideways trading, with the occasional spike up or down, due to the countervailing forces of the trade war and supply outages.

“Oil prices have entered the rocky ranges, trapped in a world of wild moves but still getting nowhere, as it appears lost in a range somewhere,” said Phil Flynn.

“Of course, the moves are compelling because whatever way we break out of this range could mean a major move. We think it will be to the upside, but technically it could be a big move to the downside.”

The U.S. economy is in a "favorable place" and the Fed will "act as appropriate" to keep the current economic expansion on track, Powell said on Friday in remarks that gave few clues about whether the central bank will cut interest rates at its next meeting or not.

Rate cuts weaken the U.S. dollar, making commodities priced in the greenback cheaper for the rest of the world. Dollar-denominated prices of raw materials such as oil often automatically rise after a rate cut, adjusting to the phenomenon.

The Fed cut rates last month for the first time in a decade, dropping 25-basis points. Markets are expecting the central bank to do a similar reduction in September, but Powell has so far given little signs it would comply. The Fed chair has faced relentless criticism and pressure from President Donald Trump who accuses Powell’s slow action in cutting rates as the real reason for the slower-than-desired growth of the U.S. economy.

China was, meanwhile, retaliating against U.S. plans to levy an additional 10% tax on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, including consumer electronics, through two stages of tariffs scheduled to go into effect on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15.

"China's decision to implement additional tariffs was forced by the U.S.'s unilateralism and protectionism," China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement, adding that its retaliatory tariffs would also take effect in two stages on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15.

Hours later, the president ordered companies in the United States to stop doing business with China and warned of additional retaliation.

Investing.com - Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) fell by 3.02% to trade at $42.44 by 15:36 (19:36 GMT) on Friday on the NASDAQ exchange.

The volume of Comcast shares traded since the start of the session was 10.16M. Comcast has traded in a range of $42.45 to $43.83 on the day.

The stock has traded at $44.4600 at its highest and $42.0500 at its lowest during the past seven days.

Investing.com - Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) fell by 3.05% to trade at $51.57 by 15:36 (19:36 GMT) on Friday on the NYSE exchange.

The volume of Oracle shares traded since the start of the session was 7.09M. Oracle has traded in a range of $51.57 to $53.32 on the day.

The stock has traded at $54.3700 at its highest and $51.5600 at its lowest during the past seven days.

Investing.com - Cardano fell bellow the $0.049387 level on Friday. Cardano was trading at 0.049387 by 15:28 (19:28 GMT) on the Investing.com Index, down 2.08% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since August 21.

The move downwards pushed Cardano's market cap down to $1.28401B, or 0.47% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Cardano's market cap was $23.91700B.

Cardano had traded in a range of $0.048868 to $0.050201 in the previous twenty-four hours.

Over the past seven days, Cardano has seen a rise in value, as it gained 6.46%. The volume of Cardano traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $57.42753M or 0.11% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $0.0461 to $0.0512 in the past 7 days.

At its current price, Cardano is still down 96.34% from its all-time high of $1.35 set on January 4, 2018.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading

Bitcoin was last at $10,391.1 on the Investing.com Index, up 1.94% on the day.

Ethereum was trading at $193.01 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 0.15%.

Bitcoin's market cap was last at $186.32440B or 67.81% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $20.89894B or 7.61% of the total cryptocurrency market value.

By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com - It didn’t go quite the way markets thought, but the longs in gold weren’t complaining.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell’s decision to leave markets in suspense over the central bank’s upcoming rate moves ought to have led to lower gold prices on Friday. But China’s announcement of new tariffs on U.S. products and President Donald Trump’s demand that U.S. companies pull out of the republic made sure of a rally in the yellow metal instead.

The biggest rally in three weeks, in fact.

Spot gold, reflective of trades in bullion, was up $29.77, or 2%, at $1,527.89 per ounce by 2:25 PM ET (18:25 GMT). Bullion has occasionally moved back and forth between $1,500 this week as some investors bet the Fed wouldn’t add to its dovish tone ahead of its Jackson Hole conference.

Gold futures for December delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, settled up $29.10, or 1.9%, at $1,537.60 per ounce in post-settlement trade.

It was gold’s largest rally in three weeks, and the first in a while, driven by safe-haven buying over China. The precious metal had spent much of early April to mid-August in range-bound trading as longs in the market sought signs of Fed rate cuts to add to positions.

The U.S. economy is in a "favorable place," and the Fed will "act as appropriate" to keep the current economic expansion on track, Powell said Friday in a speech at the Fed's annual confab of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Rate cuts weaken the U.S. dollar, making commodities priced in the greenback cheaper for the rest of the world. Dollar-denominated prices of raw materials such as gold often automatically rise after a rate cut, adjusting to the phenomenon.

The Fed cut rates last month for the first time in a decade, dropping 25 basis points. Markets are expecting the central bank to do a similar reduction in September. But the Fed chief has faced relentless criticism and pressure from Trump, who accuses Powell’s slow action in cutting rates as the real reason for the slower-than-desired growth of the U.S. economy.

China was, meanwhile, retaliating against U.S. plans to levy an additional 10% tax on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, including consumer electronics, through two stages of tariffs scheduled to go into effect on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15.

That got Trump livid, prompting him to order U.S. companies to move their manufacturing facilities in the People's Republic somewhere else. It was not known if any of the firms would comply with the president. Trump also warned of additional retaliation.

Gold's rally on Friday saw the futures contract rise about 1% on the week. It's up 7% so far in August and 20% for the year.

Investing.com – Sweden stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Oil&Gas, Telecoms and Industrials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Stockholm, the OMX Stockholm 30 lost 0.82%.

The best performers of the session on the OMX Stockholm 30 were Tele2 AB (ST:TEL2b), which rose 0.51% or 0.70 points to trade at 137.25 at the close. Meanwhile, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson Class B (ST:ERICb) added 0.20% or 0.16 points to end at 78.64 and Kinnevik, Investment AB ser. B (ST:KINVb) was up 0.16% or 0.4 points to 256.6 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Autoliv Inc . SDB (ST:ALIVsdb), which fell 2.43% or 15.4 points to trade at 619.0 at the close. Sandvik AB (ST:SAND) declined 1.98% or 2.75 points to end at 136.00 and Electrolux, AB ser. B (ST:ELUXb) was down 1.88% or 4.2 points to 218.9.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Stockholm Stock Exchange by 389 to 257 and 51 ended unchanged.

Crude oil for October delivery was down 2.80% or 1.55 to $53.80 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in October fell 1.59% or 0.95 to hit $58.97 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 1.92% or 29.00 to trade at $1537.50 a troy ounce.

EUR/SEK was down 0.04% to 10.7151, while USD/SEK fell 0.60% to 9.6182.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.49% at 97.588.

Investing.com – Netherlands stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Healthcare, Financials and Consumer Services sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Amsterdam, the AEX declined 0.88%.

The best performers of the session on the AEX were ASR Nederland NV (AS:ASRNL), which rose 0.61% or 0.19 points to trade at 31.59 at the close. Meanwhile, Koninklijke KPN NV (AS:KPN) added 0.44% or 0.012 points to end at 2.734 and IMCD NV (AS:IMCD) was up 0.41% or 0.25 points to 61.75 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Aegon NV (AS:AEGN), which fell 4.64% or 0.167 points to trade at 3.435 at the close. ArcelorMittal SA (AS:MT) declined 2.24% or 0.280 points to end at 12.208 and ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) was down 1.91% or 0.164 points to 8.412.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange by 87 to 45 and 7 ended unchanged.

Shares in Aegon NV (AS:AEGN) fell to 52-week lows; falling 4.64% or 0.167 to 3.435.

The AEX Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of AEX options, was up 8.55% to 17.75.

Crude oil for October delivery was down 3.04% or 1.68 to $53.67 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in October fell 1.85% or 1.11 to hit $58.81 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 1.97% or 29.75 to trade at $1538.25 a troy ounce.

EUR/USD was up 0.57% to 1.1141, while EUR/GBP rose 0.41% to 0.9077.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.50% at 97.572.

Investing.com - U.S. stocks traded lower Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated that the central bank will act “as appropriate” to sustain the economy, in a speech that also blamed trade policy for much of the global economic slowdown.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 33 points, or 0.1%, by 10:30 AM ET (14:30 GMT), while the S&P 500 was off 6 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq 100 was down 25 points ,or 0.3%.

Stocks had already opened lower, reeling from China’s announcement of import tariffs on some $75 billion of U.S. imports, including new levies on crude oil and autos.

After a brief bounce, as Powell’s headlines hit the wires, they resumed their declines as the speech failed to flesh out any promises for monetary stimulus beyond what Powell had already said in recent public appearances.

If anything, the speech represented some pushback against pressure from President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly insulted Powell and the Fed over Twitter and called for a 100-basis-point cut in its interest rates.

At three separate points in his speech, Powell referred to the problems for the central bank by trade policy, in what appeared to be an implicit critique of Trump’s approach to the U.S.-China relationship.

“While monetary policy is a powerful tool that works to support consumer spending, business investment, and public confidence, it cannot provide a settled rulebook for international trade,” Powell said, adding that there are “no recent precedents to guide any policy response to the current situation.”

Powell also noted that the U.S. economy is still looking strong, despite increased risks to the global outlook.

“Job creation has slowed from last year's pace but is still above overall labor force growth. Inflation seems to be moving up closer to 2 percent,” he said. “Based on our assessment of the implications of these developments, we will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion, with a strong labor market and inflation near its symmetric 2 percent objective.”

Among the most active stocks Friday, Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) fell 12% after its quarterly update failed to match the strength of other retail reports this week. Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) rose 5.7% after its quarterly results showed new acquisitions contributing to a healthy 22% rise in revenues, while Boeing (NYSE:BA) rose 3.1% on the back of reports that the Federal Aviation Agency is getting closer to letting the troubled 737 Max fly again.

Trade-sensitive semiconductor stocks were broadly lower, as was Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), which lost 0.9%.

Crude oil futures, however, recovered some of the losses they made on the back of the Chinese news to trade at $54.22 a barrel, a loss of 2.0% on the day. Haven assets made broad but unspectacular gains: gold futures gained nearly 1% to $1,523.15 a troy ounce. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, gave up 0.1% on the back of the speech, mainly due to losses against the yen and Swiss franc.

Investing.com - Alphabet A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell by 3.05% to trade at $1,155.22 by 14:03 (18:03 GMT) on Friday on the NASDAQ exchange.

The volume of Alphabet A shares traded since the start of the session was 851.14K. Alphabet A has traded in a range of $1,155.27 to $1,195.67 on the day.

The stock has traded at $1,209.3900 at its highest and $1,155.6200 at its lowest during the past seven days.

Investing.com - Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell by 3.05% to trade at $1,751.63 by 13:27 (17:27 GMT) on Friday on the NASDAQ exchange.

The volume of Amazon.com shares traded since the start of the session was 2.95M. Amazon.com has traded in a range of $1,750.53 to $1,804.90 on the day.

The stock has traded at $1,829.5800 at its highest and $1,750.2900 at its lowest during the past seven days.

Investing.com – Norway stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Pharma Biotech&Life Sciences, Auto&components and Materials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Oslo, the Oslo OBX fell 0.59%.

The best performers of the session on the Oslo OBX were SalMar ASA (OL:SALM), which rose 3.33% or 14.10 points to trade at 437.40 at the close. Meanwhile, Schibsted ASA A (OL:SBSTA) added 2.46% or 6.5 points to end at 270.3 and Orkla ASA (OL:ORK) was up 2.13% or 1.70 points to 81.42 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA (OL:NWC), which fell 6.96% or 2.31 points to trade at 30.89 at the close. Petroleum Geo - Services ASA (OL:PGS) declined 4.97% or 0.58 points to end at 11.01 and Elkem ASA (OL:ELK) was down 2.77% or 0.62 points to 21.74.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Oslo Stock Exchange by 134 to 79 and 23 ended unchanged.

Shares in Orkla ASA (OL:ORK) rose to 52-week highs; rising 2.13% or 1.70 to 81.42.

Crude oil for October delivery was down 3.49% or 1.93 to $53.42 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in October fell 2.22% or 1.33 to hit $58.59 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 1.89% or 28.55 to trade at $1537.05 a troy ounce.

EUR/NOK was up 0.43% to 9.9884, while USD/NOK fell 0.13% to 8.9655.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.48% at 97.597.

Investing.com – Denmark stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Industrials, Chemicals and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Copenhagen, the OMX Copenhagen 20 declined 0.07%.

The best performers of the session on the OMX Copenhagen 20 were Ambu A/S (CSE:AMBUb), which rose 7.06% or 6.6 points to trade at 100.2 at the close. Meanwhile, Oersted A/S (CSE:ORSTED) added 1.62% or 10.40 points to end at 653.60 and Lundbeck A/S (CSE:LUN) was up 1.13% or 2.7 points to 242.5 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were GN Store Nord (CSE:GN), which fell 3.47% or 10.6 points to trade at 295.0 at the close. AP Moeller - Maersk A/S B (CSE:MAERSKb) declined 3.06% or 230 points to end at 7298 and William Demant Holding A/S (CSE:DEMANT) was down 1.75% or 3.7 points to 207.9.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange by 66 to 55 and 23 ended unchanged.

Crude oil for October delivery was down 3.09% or 1.71 to $53.64 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in October fell 2.00% or 1.20 to hit $58.72 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 1.65% or 24.90 to trade at $1533.40 a troy ounce.

USD/DKK was down 0.47% to 6.6973, while EUR/DKK rose 0.05% to 7.4581.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.40% at 97.667.

Investing.com – Turkey stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Holdings&Investments, Banking and Financials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Istanbul, the BIST 100 gained 1.84%.

The best performers of the session on the BIST 100 were MLP Saglik Hizmetleri AS (IS:MPARK), which rose 14.11% or 1.68 points to trade at 13.59 at the close. Meanwhile, Deva Holding AS (IS:DEVA) added 7.02% or 0.410 points to end at 6.250 and Haci Omer Sabanci Holding AS (IS:SAHOL) was up 5.12% or 0.43 points to 8.83 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Ihlas Holding AS (IS:IHLAS), which fell 3.77% or 0.020 points to trade at 0.510 at the close. Ihlas Gayrimenkul Proje Gelistirme ve Ticaret AS (IS:IHLGM) declined 3.53% or 0.030 points to end at 0.820 and Yatas Yatak ve Yorgan Sanayi Ticaret AS (IS:YATAS) was down 2.22% or 0.120 points to 5.290.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Istanbul Stock Exchange by 249 to 101 and 57 ended unchanged.

Shares in Deva Holding AS (IS:DEVA) rose to 5-year highs; up 7.02% or 0.410 to 6.250.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 1.84% or 27.75 to $1536.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 3.05% or 1.69 to hit $53.66 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 2.04% or 1.22 to trade at $58.70 a barrel.

USD/TRY was up 0.09% to 5.7732, while EUR/TRY rose 0.63% to 6.4300.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.43% at 97.645.

Investing.com - Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) fell by 4.01% to trade at $120.20 by 12:00 (16:00 GMT) on Friday on the NASDAQ exchange.

The volume of Texas Instruments shares traded since the start of the session was 2.33M. Texas Instruments has traded in a range of $120.16 to $125.09 on the day.

The stock has traded at $126.5700 at its highest and $118.7300 at its lowest during the past seven days.

Investing.com - NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell by 3.29% to trade at $165.84 by 11:07 (15:07 GMT) on Friday on the NASDAQ exchange.

The volume of NVIDIA shares traded since the start of the session was 4.36M. NVIDIA has traded in a range of $165.75 to $170.59 on the day.

The stock has traded at $173.4500 at its highest and $147.3900 at its lowest during the past seven days.

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was flat on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would keep an eye on the economy and act as needed, but failed to give any new guidance on interest rates.

“We will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion,” Powell said in prepared remarks at the Fed’s Jackson Hole, Wyom. summit. The economy is in a “favorable place” he said, but the trade war puts it in a “complex, turbulent” situation. The central bank is at an unprecedented place as it tries to set monetary policy to help the economy overcome the tensions caused by the U.S.-China trade war.

The slowdown has been visible for months in China, Japan and Europe, and is just starting to reach U.S. manufacturing with the IHS Markit purchasing managers index of activity dropping below 50 for the first time in nearly 10 years in August.

Still, domestic economic strength continues, with inflation nearing 2% and and the job market at historically strong levels.

Powell seemed to push back against pressure to cut rates aggressively. U.S. President Donald Trump has called for a full percentage point cut and markets expect the central bank to keep easing its monetary policy.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, inched up 0.1% to 98.132 as of 10:15 AM ET (14:15 GMT).

Investing.com - Gold prices turned higher on Friday after China announced retaliatory tariffs oU.S., increasing demand for the safe-haven precious metal ahead of a widely anticipated speech from Federal Reserve President Jerome Powell.

Spot gold gained $6.54, or 0.4%, to $1,504.66 a troy ounce by 9:24 AM ET (13:24 GMT), while gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, rose $5.85, or 0.4%, to $1,514.35.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said it will impose additional tariffs on a total of $75 billion of U.S. goods in response to the latest ones planned by U.S. President Donald Trump on $300 billion of Chinese goods.

China said that some of those countermeasures will start on Sept. 1 while others will take effect on Dec. 15, mirroring a recent delay announced by Trump.

The news broke ahead of Powell’s speech scheduled for 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).

Markets will look to see if the Fed chief provides hints on whether the U.S. central bank will cut interest rates for a second time this year in an attempt to boost the world's largest economy.

Elsewhere, World Gold Council analyst Adam Perlaky noted that investor demand for gold-backed ETFs continued at a rapid pace last week. Even in Asia, where holdings of gold ETFs had fallen nearly 20% at one stage earlier this year, assets under management are now up on Dec. 31, having risen 10% in August alone.

In other metals trading, silver futures gained 0.5% to $17.128 a troy ounce by 9:32 AM ET (13:32 GMT).

Palladium futures fell 1.7% to $1,459.95 an ounce, while sister metal platinum declined 0.6% to $857.15.

In base metals, copper dropped 0.5% to $2.546 a pound.

Investing.com - Oil prices traded sharply lower on Friday, after China announced it would impose import tariffs averaging 10% on $75 billion of U.S. goods, including crude and autos.

The move is a response to the U.S. decision to tariff all remaining Chinese imports by the end of the year. While expected, it further stokes fears about how far each side on the U.S.-China trade dispute is prepared to go in the short term to achieve its longer-term aims. China imported some 180,000 barrels a day of U.S. crude in July, according to UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. Bloomberg reported that the tariff on U.S. crude imports will be subjected to an extra 5% from next month.

The news gave a jolt to a market that had been content to wait for a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.

New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell over 3% to $53.61 a barrel by 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT), while Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., fell 2.5%, to $58.44.

China's retaliation appeared timed for maximum effect, coming ahead of Powell's speech at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT). Powell is expected to provide clues on whether the U.S. central bank will cut interest rates for a second time this year to boost the world's largest economy.

“Oil longs are counting on Powell to sprinkle some magic dust on crude,” Investing.com senior commodity analyst Barani Krishnan said in a note. “Bears, meanwhile, are counting on ramping U.S. crude production to continue offsetting supply outages or sudden spikes in demand.”

The tariff battle between the world’s two largest consumers of oil has been blamed with contributing a weakening global economy.

Krishnan said oil has been “experiencing some of their greatest volatility ever as the U.S.-China trade spat yanked crude around like a yo-yo”.

He said that, with the U.S. summer driving season nearing its end on the Sept. 2 Labor Day holiday, longs in the market are clinging to any support they can find.

“But range-bound trades may be their best hope if the Fed doesn't resort to cut rates like they expect, or the U.S.-China trade spat continues to be a drag on the global economy,” Krishan said.

Later on Friday, market focus will shift to Baker Hughes’ weekly rig count data at 1:00 PM ET (17:00 GMT).

In other energy trading, gasoline futures lost 0.5% to $1.6600 a gallon by 7:45 AM ET (11:45 GMT), while heating oil declined 0.6% to $1.8307 a gallon.

Lastly, natural gas futures traded down 0.2% to $2.154 per million British thermal unit.

-- Reuters contributed to this report.

Investing.com - Stellar fell bellow the $0.06813 level on Friday. Stellar was trading at 0.06813 by 06:51 (10:51 GMT) on the Investing.com Index, down 2.01% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since August 22.

The move downwards pushed Stellar's market cap down to $1.31520B, or 0.49% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Stellar's market cap was $12.12000B.

Stellar had traded in a range of $0.06734 to $76.47714 in the previous twenty-four hours.

Over the past seven days, Stellar has seen a drop in value, as it lost 2.18%. The volume of Stellar traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $112.82025M or 0.21% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $0.0656 to $76.4771 in the past 7 days.

At its current price, Stellar is still down 99.91% from its all-time high of $76.48 set on August 23.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading

Bitcoin was last at $10,107.9 on the Investing.com Index, up 0.76% on the day.

Ethereum was trading at $189.16 on the Investing.com Index, a gain of 1.29%.

Bitcoin's market cap was last at $181.52159B or 67.55% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $20.45548B or 7.61% of the total cryptocurrency market value.

Investing.com – India stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Metals, Oil&Gas and Public Sector Undertakings sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NSE, the Nifty 50 rose 0.82%, while the BSE Sensex 30 index gained 0.63%.

The best performers of the session on the Nifty 50 were Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (NS:ZEE), which rose 6.55% or 21.55 points to trade at 351.15 at the close. Meanwhile, Vedanta Ltd (NS:VDAN) added 5.70% or 7.35 points to end at 137.40 and UPL Ltd (NS:UPLL) was up 6.18% or 32.00 points to 547.25 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were IndusInd Bank Ltd. (NS:INBK), which fell 1.78% or 23.80 points to trade at 1310.50 at the close. ITC Ltd (NS:ITC) declined 1.50% or 3.60 points to end at 236.10 and ICICI Bank Ltd (NS:ICBK) was down 0.80% or 3.20 points to 395.40.

The top performers on the BSE Sensex 30 were Vedanta Ltd (BO:VDAN) which rose 6.55% to 137.50, Yes Bank Ltd (BO:YESB) which was up 5.24% to settle at 59.25 and Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (BO:ONGC) which gained 4.66% to close at 122.30.

The worst performers were IndusInd Bank Ltd. (BO:INBK) which was down 1.90% to 1310.35 in late trade, ITC Ltd (BO:ITC) which lost 1.71% to settle at 236.00 and ICICI Bank Ltd (BO:ICBK) which was down 0.85% to 395.75 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the India National Stock Exchange by 903 to 667 and 60 ended unchanged; on the Bombay Stock Exchange, 1272 rose and 1085 declined, while 126 ended unchanged.

Shares in IndusInd Bank Ltd. (NS:INBK) fell to 52-week lows; losing 1.78% or 23.80 to 1310.50. Shares in ITC Ltd (NS:ITC) fell to 52-week lows; falling 1.50% or 3.60 to 236.10. Shares in IndusInd Bank Ltd. (BO:INBK) fell to 52-week lows; falling 1.90% or 25.35 to 1310.35. Shares in ITC Ltd (BO:ITC) fell to 52-week lows; down 1.71% or 4.10 to 236.00.

The India VIX, which measures the implied volatility of Nifty 50 options, was down 2.83% to 17.3475.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.20% or 2.95 to $1505.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 0.09% or 0.05 to hit $55.30 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 0.10% or 0.06 to trade at $59.86 a barrel.

USD/INR was down 0.23% to 71.748, while EUR/INR fell 0.41% to 79.3315.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.26% at 98.320.

Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Paper&Pulp, Railway&Bus and Real Estate sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.40%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Familymart Ltd (T:8028), which rose 6.05% or 137.0 points to trade at 2400.0 at the close. Meanwhile, The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. (T:5631) added 2.82% or 48.0 points to end at 1749.0 and Oji Holdings Corp. (T:3861) was up 2.52% or 12.0 points to 488.0 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (T:6976), which fell 3.39% or 71.0 points to trade at 2023.0 at the close. Hitachi Zosen Corp. (T:7004) declined 2.05% or 7.0 points to end at 335.0 and Olympus Corp. (T:7733) was down 1.76% or 22.0 points to 1225.0.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1770 to 1665 and 295 ended unchanged.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was unchanged 0.00% to 17.56.

Crude oil for October delivery was up 0.05% or 0.03 to $55.38 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in October rose 0.22% or 0.13 to hit $60.05 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract fell 0.25% or 3.75 to trade at $1504.75 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.22% to 106.66, while EUR/JPY rose 0.14% to 118.06.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.19% at 98.250.