Wall Street traded in mixed order on Wednesday, affected like the European markets by the unexpected return of trade tensions between the United States and China, an ultra-sensitive subject for the markets.

While the Dow Jones continued to benefit from the recent sector rotation, gaining 0.2% to 41,030.8 points, the Nasdaq Composite lost more than 2.3% to 18,083 points.030.8 points, the Nasdaq Composite lost more than 2.3% to 18,083 points.

The mood of investors - which had been buoyed for two months by the prospect of further rate cuts - was suddenly dampened by fears of a return to Sino-American trade tensions.

According to Bloomberg, the Biden administration is considering imposing tighter restrictions on foreign companies, particularly European ones, that continue to supply China with cutting-edge electronic chips.

At the same time, Donald Trump has declared that he wants to make Taiwan, a major chip producer, pay for the military protection the island currently enjoys from the USA.

The general downturn in technology stocks primarily affected semiconductor manufacturers, which are heavily exposed to Asia. Nvidia lost 6%, Qualcomm 7% and AMD 8%, by far the biggest drop on the S&P 500.

At the same time, the CBOE's VIX volatility index jumped 6% to over 14 points, its highest level in two months.

This renewed tension also had an impact on the major European markets: the Euro STOXX 50 lost 0.8% and the AEX almost 2%, driven by the 8% fall in ASML, the Old Continent's largest capitalization.

In terms of US corporate results, Johnson & Johnson gained over 3%, with investors hailing the strong performance of the healthcare giant's biopharmaceutical arm.

The day's economic indicators were greeted with little emotion, despite a 3% rebound in housing starts in June compared with the previous month.

US housing permits - which are supposed to foreshadow future housing starts - rose by 3.4% to 1,446,000 last month.446,000 last month.

Following a sequential increase of 0.9% in May, industrial production rose by a further 0.6% in June, including a 0.4% rise in manufacturing output per se.

On the currency markets, renewed tensions on the trade front pushed the dollar down against the euro, which took advantage of the situation to climb back above 1.0930 on the eve of the ECB's decisions.

Renewed risk aversion triggered by trade tensions is keeping government bond yields under pressure, with ten-year paper remaining below 4.19%.

On the oil front, crude oil prices are back on the rise following the announcement of a fall in weekly crude inventories, which pushed Texas WTI back over 2% above $82.5.

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