The major U.S. indices closed in red territory as trade tensions ramped up on Monday. The Technology sector was hit particularly hard resulting in the NASDAQ Composite falling nearly 3% in mid-day trading. In housing news, new home sales ticked up in May, with sales increasing 6.7% from April’s revised level and are up by 14.1% from May 2017. Tuesday Energy sector stocks rallied, pushing the markets higher, giving investors a reprieve from the previous day’s performance. However, the market was down again mid-week with the Financial sector leading the way lower on the S+P 500 amid continued trade tussling. Investors have had to weigh mixed signals from the United States and China, leaving some worrying about the outlook for global growth. Thursday saw stocks stepping up on a variety of news, despite reports that U.S. gross domestic product growth slowed slightly in the first quarter. Real GDP grew 2% versus 2.9% in the fourth quarter, and the 2.2% and 2.3% growth reported for the prior two months. Additionally, initial jobless claims increased, as the Department of Labor reported new claims rose to 227,000 from 218,000 in the week ended June 23. Friday, markets were relatively flat as both China and the Trump Administration have been quiet for a few days regarding the tariffs imposed from both directions.