U.S. stocks trade mixed amid trade tensions, data

NEW YORK, May 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded mixed on Thursday as renewed trade tensions kept the market on edge.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 159.31 points, or 0.65 percent, to 24,508.47. The S&P 500 was down 5.73 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,718.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 19.27 points, or 0.26 percent, to 7,481.73.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday that the country will impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the European Union (EU), Canada and Mexico from Friday.

The move is almost certain to draw a response from the EU, which has threatened to retaliate with its own tariffs on such American products as motorcycles, jeans and bourbon.

On the economic front, in the week ending May 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 221,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 234,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 222,250, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 219,750.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said U.S. personal income increased by 49.5 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.3 percent in April. Disposable personal income increased 60.9 billion dollars, or 0.4 percent, and personal consumption expenditures increased 79.8 billion dollars, or 0.6 percent.

In corporate news, shares of General Motors soared 10.62 percent after the company said the SoftBank Vision Fund will invest 2.25 billion dollars in GM Cruise Holdings LLC, the carmaker's autonomous vehicle unit. Enditem