U.S. Stocks ended Tuesday lower after a lackluster day of trading. The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. and China are currently working to delay the new round of tariffs that are slated for Sunday. Officials from both sides are suggesting that negotiations will extend beyond December 15.
Here's how the market closed at the end of trading Tuesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
The South China Morning Post reported that a trade deal is unlikely to happen this week as the U.S. has been focused on passing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Shi Yinhong, an advisor and director at the Centre on American Studies at Renmin University stated that "China is unlikely to give a specific commitment on how much U.S. agricultural products it would buy."
The U.S. government, especially President Donald Trump, are also distracted by the recent release of two articles of impeachment against Trump. House Democratic leaders have charged Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
In U.S. Stock Sectors, most sectors remain almost unmoved as investors continue their waiting game. The few that had share growth include Energy +0.15% and Health Care +0.15%. Information Technology and Financials remain unchanged from Monday in terms of growth. Lastly, the many who continue to decline in current markets include Real Estate -0.68%, Materials -0.59%, Communication Services -0.36%, Consumer Staples -0.35%, Consumer Discretionary -0.21%, Industrials -0.17%, and Utilities -0.04%.
In Commodity and Currency News, oil prices pared their Monday losses and increased Tuesday. West Texas Intermediate increased over +0.30% and Brent Crude was not far behind with a gain of almost +0.20%. Gold also spiked slightly Tuesday, with prices increasing almost +0.20% to sell shares of the precious metal at $1,464.18 per ounce. Finally, the U.S. Dollar lost steam today, with the DXY Index lowering -0.15%.
Wednesday will conclude the Federal Reserve's December FOMC meeting. Chairman Jerome Powell is set to hold his last address of the year at the meeting's completion.
