Stocks suffer first loss in six days

U.S. stocks fell Tuesday for the first time in six days after the recent upward momentum gave way to lingering concerns about the U.S. trade war with China.

Defense contractors suffered steep declines and technology stocks gave up most of their early gains, taking the steam out of a morning rally on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a loss of 14 points after rising as many as 186 points just after trading began.

The market had rallied for five straight days since the Federal Reserve signaled it is open to cutting interest rates if needed to stabilize the economy rattled by trade disputes. The gains had erased much of the S&P 500’s 6.6% decline in May. But Tuesday, concerns that the U.S. trade spat with China could be prolonged and hurt growth in the world’s two biggest economies dimmed investor enthusiasm.

Katie Nixon, chief investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management, said there is no clear resolution in sight to the trade war and investors will have to get accustomed to uncertainty hanging over the market.

Meanwhile, one of the market’s recent high-flyers had a rare bad day.

Beyond Meat fell 25% after J.P. Morgan’s Ken Goldman and James Allen downgraded the stock to “neutral.” The downgrade follows a surge in the stock price from $25 to $167 since the maker of plant-based meat alternatives started trading publicly on May 2. In a note to clients Tuesday, Goldman and Allen said the downgrade was “purely a valuation call.”