Mixed day for local stocks after Hong Kong comments

Bay Area business stalwarts such as Twitter, Apple and Facebook recorded mild losses on the stock market Friday amid a mixed day on Wall Street as investors reacted to President Donald

Trump saying he would take steps that will impact Hong Kong’s trading status with the United States.

At a press conference at the White House, Trump said he would begin the process of eliminating policy exemptions that have given Hong Kong special treatment with regards to trade and other business relationships with the U.S. Trump’s announcement came days after China imposed new security measures that run against the independence of Hong Kong, which has operated as a semi-autonomous region since China took over the former British colony in 1997.

Trump also said that the U.S. would terminate its relationship with the World Health Organization. Trump has been at odds with the W.H.O. over its relationship with China and how it has operated during the coronavirus crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, down by more than 200 points for most of the day, trimmed its losses to finish with a loss of 17.53 points, or 0.1%, at 25,383.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.3%, to end the day at 9,489.87, and the S&P 500 gained 0.5%, to finish at 3,044.31.

Among Bay Area companies, Twitter shares fell 2%, to close at $30.97 a day after Trump signed an executive order designed to hold Twitter and other social media companies more responsible for the content that is posted on their sites. Trump’s action came after Twitter flagged two of his tweets from earlier in the with fact-checking notices for the first time. On Friday, Twitter placed a warning label on one of Trump’s tweets saying it glorified violence.

Along with Twitter, Facebook shares gave up 0.2%, to fall to $225.09 and Apple ended the day off by 0.1, at $317.94 a share, and HP shares slipped by 0.2%, to $14.98.

Tesla shares climbed 3.6%, to close at $835 one day after Chief Executive Elon Musk received a stockoption package worth almost $800 million. Musk earned the options as part of his performance-based compensation after Tesla maintained an average market capitalization of at least $100 billion for six months.

Uber rose by 6.4%, to $36.32 a share, after the ride-hailing leader said it would offer riders in several U.S. cities the option to book rides by the hour for $50 and include multiple stops in such rides.