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Indices started off the week well into the red zone on Monday, marking the worst session of the year. Major Technology brands led a broad sell-off on continuing trade tensions as China reacted to Trump’s recent tariffs. Tuesday, stocks rebounded somewhat from the Monday’s sell-off, helped by a few decent earnings reports. Indices were mixed mid-week as the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed some points while the S&P 500 Index and NASDAQ Composite stepped up slightly. Markets ended Thursday’s session with gains. Energy, Telecommunications, and Information Technology brands led the ascent. In economic news, initial jobless claims decreased as the Labor Department data showed first-time claims fell by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 209,000 for the week ended August 3rd. The color of the day was again red on Friday, as many stocks dipped as President Trump said the United States would cut ties with China's Huawei Technologies until a trade deal is reached. On another note, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed the Producer Price index rose 0.2% for July. The results matched economists’ forecasts. In other news, crude oil prices ticked up. For the session, West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on $1.88 to settle at $54.42 per barrel. While the benchmark indexes are still well ahead of their 2018 year-end values, they're only marginally up from where they were this time last year.