Markets fall, US-China trade talks still have a “long way to go”

Markets fell on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent, the STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.4 percent and the Nikkei 225 fell 0.3 percent.

Markets may have been weighed down by comments from US President Donald Trump on Tuesday that the US and China still have a “long way to go” on trade and that the US could still slap additional tariffs on Chinese goods.

Meanwhile, US economic data released on Wednesday were mixed. While the Federal Reserve's beige book survey showed that businesses were generally positive, another report showed that new building permits fell 6.1 percent in June while housing starts fell 0.9 percent.

Some analysts remain homeful on the market.

“There are good reasons to believe that despite the downbeat expectations, earnings season could come in better than expected—which would be good for markets,” Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network said in a note.