Stocks – Wall Street Flat as Inconclusive Trade Chatter Drags on  

Investing.com – Wall Street was flat on Tuesday, as investors held off from increasing bets on an imminent breakthrough in the U.S.-China trade war.

The was up 14 points or 0.1% by 9:49 AM ET (13:49 GMT), while the inched up 1 point or 0.1% and the was flat at 8,635.23 points.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that the two had “reached consensus on properly resolving relevant issues” during a phone call Tuesday morning Beijing time, but did not provide any further details. The call was later confirmed by U.S. officials, but White House advisor Kellyanne Conway told Fox News that there were still obstacles to any detente, including forced technology transfers.

“A combination of progress on trade talks, no curveball by (Fed Chair) Powell, and consumer confidence should keep this ‘Thanksgiving rally’ going,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

Powell had said in a speech on Monday that “the glass is more than half full” as regards the economic outlook.

Best Buy (NYSE:) was among the top gainers after the market open, rising 6% after its revenue beat estimates due to a rise in same-store sales, while Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:) surged 14% on strong earnings and a rise in full-year guidance.

Elsewhere, technology stocks fell with Apple (NASDAQ:) and Facebook (NASDAQ:) down 0.2% and Tesla (NASDAQ:) slipped 0.8%. Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:) slumped 16.3% after the company warned that the last quarter of the year will be weak due to the impact of tariffs on Chinese imports.

In commodities, the , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.1% to 98.285 and lost 0.3% to $1,459.90 a troy ounce. gained 0.8% to $58.47 a barrel.

-Reuters contributed to this report

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