U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Friday ahead of a holiday weekend as investors grappled with escalating tensions between the two largest economies in the world.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 2,938. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 93 points, or 0.4%, to 24,381. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.4% to 9,251.

Equities are still on pace to end with positive gains this week amid hope that states' reopenings will bring back depressed economic activity. Yet this comes on the back of deteriorating ties between Beijing and Washington. U.S. lawmakers approved a bill aimed at censuring China's move to impose new national-security laws on Hong Kong, and on Wednesday, the Senate, separately, passed legislation that could have the effect of banning Chinese companies from listing on U.S. exchanges.

Source: Marketwatch