Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets opened the week with a scramble to recover premarket losses that had been caused by a report suggesting China will seek more concessions from the U.S. before it signs the modest handshake deal it made last week with the U.S.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reassured CNBC earlier Monday that the two sides have an understanding, while Hu Xijin, the editor of China’s English-language mouthpiece, Global Times, also tried to downplay concerns.
“Based on what I know, China-U.S. trade talks made breakthrough last week and the two sides have the strong will to reach a final deal. Initial statement of the Chinese side is moderate,” Hu said via Twitter. "This is China's habit. It doesn't mean China's real attitude is not positive.”
Even so, markets reacted negatively at the sight of even vague signs of backtracking from what was, in any event, a minimalist deal that did little to resolve the underlying conflict between the two countries.
After falling as much as 0.5% in premarket, the Dow eked out a gain of 22 points, less than 0.1%, by 10:15 AM ET (1415 GMT). The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were both still down 0.1%
Among individual movers, Nike (NYSE:NKE) was among the biggest gainers, after an analyst upgrade. Shares hit an all-time high.
Parsley Energy (NYSE:PE) fell 13% after agreeing to buy fellow oil producer Jagged Peak Energy (NYSE:JAG) in an all-stock deal valued at around $2.27 billion including debt.
Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) fell 4.3% after an underwhelming initiation by Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) at market perform. Wells’ target price of $125 is below the current price of $126.20.
Cyber-security firm Crowdstrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) also fell some 7% after Citigroup (NYSE:C) joined Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) in downgrading it to a sell.
Elsewhere, crude oil prices tumbled as the lack of clear progress on the trade front shook traders’ faith in the ability of producers to avoid a fresh glut next year. U.S. crude futures fell over 2% to $53.24 by 10 AM ET (1400 GMT).
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six developed-market currencies, meanwhile, rose 0.2% to 98.167, with gains against higher-yielding currencies and sterling, offset by losses against the yen and Swiss franc.