Cabinet turmoil affects market

U.S. equities fell for the second straight day as markets took in Tuesday’s economic and political news. The 10-year Treasury yield fell while the dollar held steady.

While an inflation report reinforced the sense that economic growth is picking up without runaway price increases, energy shares weighed on the S&P 500 index as oil declined on concern that global demand might not absorb burgeoning U.S. supplies. Retail sales and crude inventory figures due out Wednesday may offer more clues on the future of the economy.

Meanwhile, the sudden firing of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — to be replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo — may have investors waiting for more shoes to drop at the White House, especially when it comes to trade policy.

Tillerson’s removal followed an executive order from Trump blocking Broadcom from acquiring Qualcomm, scuttling a $117 billion hostile takeover that had been the subject of scrutiny on national security grounds. Qualcomm’s shares fell as much as 5.9 percent, weighing down the Nasdaq 100 index.

Trade war couldtarget Boeing

President Donald Trump will visit a Boeing plant in St. Louis on Wednesday to celebrate the tax cut his party handed to American companies. But lurking in the background is a clash over trade — one in which Boeing is the most vulnerable target. The tariffs on steel and aluminum that Trump announced last week have already turned iconic American businesses — Harley-Davidson, Levi’s, makers of Kentucky bourbon — into prey for trading partners bent on retaliation. Boeing, which sends 80 percent of its commercial planes abroad, is the company with the most at stake in a trade fight — especially in China, one of the fastest-growing aircraft markets.