Wednesday's Stock Market Open: US, Global Stocks Falling On Rising US - China Tensions

U.S. stock indexes remained lower Wednesday on growing worries over the lack of a China-U.S. trade deal and continuing disputes over Hong Kong.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 85.22 points to 27,848.8 while the S&P 500 lost 5.88 points to 3,114.3 and the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 12.28 points to 8,558.38.

Chinese officials were angered by the U.S. Senate passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act on Tuesday in support of human rights in Hong Kong. Beijing has vowed “strong countermeasures” if the bill passes in Congress. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the bill was designed to “bolster anti-China, extremist and violent radicals who attempt to disrupt Hong Kong [and] damage Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability.”

The bill may make it even more difficult for Washington and Beijing to hammer out a new trade deal. President Donald Trump has made threats to again raise tariffs on Chinese imports if such a deal is achieved soon.

Traders are also awaiting the release of the minutes of the last meeting of Federal Open Market Committee this afternoon.

Lael Brainard of the Federal Reserve board told CNBC that she thinks the U.S. economy will expand moderately through 2020. “In terms of the domestic economy, again, powered by the consumer, I do expect to see trend, of above-trend growth, actually continuing out over the course of the next year, year-and-a half,” she said.

The Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude supplies climbed by 1.4 million barrels for the week ended Nov. 15, marking the fourth straight week of such gains.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said mortgage loan applications decreased by 2.2% while refinance applications fell 8% for the week.

Overnight, Asian markets finished lower with Shanghai Composite falling 0.78%, the Hong Kong's Hang Seng off 0.75% and Japan's Nikkei 225 down 0.62%.

European markets finished lower with the FTSE 100 down 0.84% while Germany's DAX down 0.48% and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.25%.

In a bright spot, China’s e-commerce company Alibaba (BABA) raised $11.2 billion in its Hong Kong public offering.

Urban Outfitters (URBN) posted lower-than-expected earnings for the third quarter after Tuesday’s market close Tuesday.

Crude oil futures were up 3.3% to $57.03 per barrel and Brent is up 2.61% to $62.51. Gold futures were down 0.47%.

The euro was down 0.14% to $1.1063 while the pound sterling slipped 0.04% to $1.2921.