WASHINGTON: US stocks edged lower on Wednesday, but remained at near record levels despite an earlier sell-off triggered by rising tension between the US and North Korea. North Korea said it was considering a missile strike on the US military base in Guam, after US President Donald Trump threatened Pyongyang with “fire and fury”.
The Dow Jones fell 0.17% to 22,048.7 and the wider S&P 500 index dipped 0.04% to 2,474.02. The Nasdaq lost 0.28% to 6,352.3. Mr Trump on Wednesday took to Twitter to boast about the US nuclear arsenal, while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tried to inject calm into the situation, reassuring the American public that there was no imminent threat. While stocks opened lower, they stemmed losses as the day went on, remaining near the record highs where they have traded for weeks. Walt Disney weighed on the market. Its shares fell almost 4% after the company said it would invest in the launch of its own ESPN- and Disney-branded online streaming sites and end a distribution deal with Netflix in 2019. Netflix fell by about 1.5%.
