01:53 PM EDT, 05/30/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes fell after President Donald Trump accused China of breaching a preliminary trade agreement, with his criticism coming a day after a federal appeals court agreed to stay a ruling that blocked the bulk of import tariffs.

The Nasdaq Composite declined 1.2% to 18,945.8, the S&P 500 retreated 0.7% to 5,873.1, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 42,073.2. All sectors except utilities and consumer staples fell intraday. Energy and technology led the decliners.

Trump wrote in a social media post alleging that China breached a preliminary trade agreement brokered by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. China discussions may need direct talks between Trump and President Xi Jinping, Fox News reported Thursday, citing an interview with Bessent. The Trump administration is also looking to impose new licensing requirements on transactions involving subsidiaries of Chinese tech companies that are already under sanctions, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Most US Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year down 1.8 basis points to 4.41% and the two-year traded 3.1 basis points lower at 3.91%.

A federal appeals court on Thursday granted the Trump administration's request to temporarily pause a ruling that struck down a series of tariffs announced by the White House. The US Court of International Trade ruled Wednesday that Trump overstepped his authority by imposing duties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

"The federal court rulings this week against the bulk of the administration's tariffs, while subsequently stayed pending appeal proceedings, adds an additional layer of uncertainty that is likely to prevail over businesses, the labor market, and by extension consumer spending in the months ahead," TD Economics Economist Andrew Foran said in a note.

In economic news, the annual headline PCE price index growth slowed to 2.1% in April from 2.3% in March, compared with the Bloomberg-compiled 2.2% forecast. Prices edged 0.1% higher month-over-month, meeting expectations and following a flat March.

Growth in the Fed's preferred inflation measure, core PCE, which excludes food and energy, cooled to 2.5%, matching the Bloomberg consensus, from 2.7% in March. Sequentially, the core measure was steady at 0.1%, in line with the analysts' forecast.

"Moving forward, it is likely that the tariff policies in effect will begin to influence consumer prices," Foran said in the TD note. "We expect that, barring an alteration in tariff composition, core PCE will rise above 3% by the second half of this year.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was revised upwards to 52.2 for May from 50.8 in the preliminary estimate, compared with expectations for 51.5 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. That was the same as the final reading in April. Respondents expected a 6.6% inflation rate over the next year, above 6.5% in April, and a 4.2% annual inflation over the next five years, below 4.4% in the previous month.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell 0.2% to $60.80 a barrel.

In company news, Sanofi ( SNY ) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) said one of the phase 3 trials of itepekimab in adults who were former smokers with inadequately controlled chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, met its primary endpoint, while another did not meet the same primary endpoint. Regeneron shares sank 19% intraday, the worst performer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Sanofi ( SNY ) dropped 5.7% intraday.

Gold futures dropped 0.8% to $3,316.62 per ounce.