US stock indexes were on track to open slightly lower on Monday as investors focused on escalating trade tensions between the United States and China.

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China proposed a set of differentiated tariffs on $60 billion worth of US imports last week, retaliating to the Trump administration’s plans of 25 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Chinese state media launched a personal attack on President Donald Trump’s trade policies on Monday, saying his trade “extortion” would not work.

The months-long dispute has roiled financial markets across the globe, although the US markets have been largely supported by a strong earnings season.

Of the more than 400 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, 78.6 percent have topped earnings estimates. That is well above the average of 72 percent in the past four quarters.

The S&P 500 .SPX ended up 0.8 percent last week, closing a five-week run of gains, its first such winning streak this year.

“We’re only couple of points away from an all-time high, and as we approach that, we’re going to see a little bit of resistance,” said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.

With just 44 companies set to report this week and the calendar light on economic data, the spotlight will be on trade issues.

The S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 1.25 points, or 0.04 percent by 8:50 a.m. ET. The Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were down 12 points, or 0.05 percent and the Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were down 6 points, or 0.08 percent.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKb.N) rose 2.23 percent in premarket trading after the Warren Buffett-led conglomerate reported a 67 percent surge in quarterly operating profit.

Qualcomm (QCOM.O) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) rose about 1.5 percent each following positive brokerage recommendations.

PepsiCo (PEP.O) rose 0.8 percent after the company said Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi would step down in October.

Intel (INTC.O) dropped 1.2 percent after Barclays downgraded the stock to “equal weight”.