Stocks ended the day mixed Tuesday on reports that China may be pushing back against American trade talk demands.
Bloomberg reported that Chinese negotiators feel they haven't received assurances from the Trump administration that tariffs imposed on their exports would be lifted, even though they have agreed to changes in their intellectual-property policies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 27 points, or 0.10%, to 25,887, the S&P 500 was off 0.01% while the Nasdaq gained 0.8%.
Separately, Thee Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expect to fly to Beijing the week of March 25 to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. It's not clear how long the talks will last, according to the Journal. Liu will pay a return trip to Washington the following week, Trump administration officials said.
The Federal Reserve began its two-day meeting Tuesday. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to argue for no changes to the central bank's key interest rate following four hikes in 2018.
"Some traders are expecting the Federal Reserve to not only keep rates on hold, they will issue a neutral outlook," said David Madden, a market analyst at CMC Markets UK. "The U.S. central bank has rowed back on the previous hawkish commentary and have now adopted a more middle of the road stance, and that is likely to boost investment sentiment."
Inflation in the U.S., the world's biggest economy, remains muted, and growth signals, particularly in the housing and manufacturing sectors, continue to weaken pushing the Fed to pause on rates.
"The market continues to expect a dovish Fed with a close to 100% chance that they won't increase rates this week," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer, Independent Advisor Alliance, "which is quite a change from less than six months ago when expectations were close to 60% that there would be a rate hike."
Boeing's (BA) troubles continued, following two fatal air crashes in less than six months. China reportedly is considering leaving the purchase of the 737 MAX jet out of the trade deal it is currently negotiating with the United States, according to Bloomberg. Also, Air Canada has suspended deliveries of the 737 MAX.
Air Canada's chief commercial officer, Lucie Guillemette, said "we are revising our schedule until July and we have taken several steps to continue delivering substantially all of our planned capacity through our global network."
Since the beginning of the month, Boeing shares have declined 16%. Shares rose 0.45% to end at $373.96.
Cannabis company Tilray (TLRY) beat fourth-quarter revenue estimates but the stock turned lower, falling 3.4% to $69.79. Revenue of $15.5 million was higher than year-earlier revenue of $5.1 million and beat Wall Street predictions of $14.1 million. Discount shoe and accessories retailer DSW (DSW)reported a surprise fourth-quarter loss while revenue came in roughly as expected. Shares tumbled 12.9% to $22.08. **How Much Money Will I Need to Retire?
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