Markets mixed along with news on trade war

Markets were mixed on Friday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent but the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.3 percent and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2 percent.

Kate Warne, principal investment strategist with Edward Jones, said she expects stocks to move higher, “but not on a smooth path”.

“There are lots of signs the economy is slowing, but very few signs it’s slowing quickly,” she said.

Warne also said that a lot will depend on how trade negotiations play out in October.

On Friday, a report said that the US Trade Representative’s office had exempted several big-ticket items produced in China from tariffs but this was followed by the cancellation of a scheduled visit to US farm states next week by Chinese trade officials.

“Even if we see a deal on tariffs, we think the tariffs probably will remain higher than where they were before 2017 and all of the other restrictions are going to remain in place as well,” said Shaun Roache, chief economist of Asia Pacific at S&P Global Ratings.