Wall Street slips as US-China trade talks loom; earnings spur stock swings

US stocks edged lower Friday as Wall Street wrapped up a subdued week ahead of a key US-China trade meeting. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% in afternoon trading, setting it up for a 0.7% weekly loss—potentially marking the first time in seven weeks the index has moved less than 1.5%.The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 202 points, or 0.5%, while the Nasdaq composite also slipped 0.3% as of 1:06 p.m. Eastern time.Attention is turning to Saturday’s high-level trade talks in Switzerland, where US and Chinese officials are meeting for the first time since President Donald Trump’s tariff escalation. With markets closed over the weekend, investors are anxiously awaiting updates, fearing a US recession if tariffs aren’t eased quickly enough.Trump on Friday floated a tariff reduction on Chinese imports—from 145% to 80%—though he left the decision to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who will be at the meeting. The social media post briefly rattled markets, but sentiment later stabilized.The president also touted prospects for more trade agreements, following a recent pact with the United Kingdom, posting, “Many Trade Deals in the hopper, all good (GREAT!) ones!” on his Truth Social platform.Meanwhile, corporate earnings continued to influence trading. Lyft surged 24.1% after topping profit expectations and reporting record ridership in March. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) gained 1.4% on a strong April revenue report, and Insulet jumped 20.3%—the best performer in the S&P 500—after beating earnings forecasts and raising full-year guidance.On the downside, Expedia dropped 7.3% despite strong earnings, citing weaker-than-expected travel demand, especially in the US and from Canada. Sweetgreen tumbled 17.3% after a larger-than-anticipated quarterly loss and a cautious full-year revenue forecast.Global markets were mixed. European indexes posted modest gains, while Hong Kong’s stocks rose 0.4% and Shanghai’s fell 0.3%. China’s exports jumped 8.1% year-over-year in April, but shipments to the US plummeted over 20% under elevated tariffs.In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield remained steady at 4.37%.