U.S. stocks edged higher on Tuesday, led by financial and energy stocks, as the United States and China made progress on ironing out their trade differences and reach an agreement.
Washington neared a deal to lift its ban on U.S. firms supplying Chinese telecoms gear maker ZTE Corp (000063.SZ), sources said on Tuesday, while Beijing said it will steeply cut import tariffs for automobiles and car parts.
That pushed up shares of Ford (F.N), General Motors (GM.N) and Fiat Chrysler (FCAU.N) between 0.6 percent and 1.3 percent, but the broader industrial sector .SPLRCI dipped 0.4 percent, a day after posting its best one-day percent gain in nearly two months as the China-U.S. trade spat was put “on hold”.
The consumer discretionary index .SPLRCD fell 0.2 percent on disappointing quarterly reports from retailer Kohl’s and homebuilder Toll Brothers.
“I don’t think today there is any news that’s particularly concerning other than disappointing guidance from Kohl’s and disappointing results from Toll Brothers,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.
“I don’t think it’s anything other than some profit taking.”
The S&P index recorded 29 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 131 new highs and 26 new lows.
