Stocks turned mostly positive Tuesday, recovering from earlier losses after President Donald Trump said he expects protectionist policies between the world's largest economies to increase.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% after falling as many as 225 points. The Nasdaq Composite closed mostly flat following sharp losses, and the S&P 500 also recovered to trade up 0.3%.
"Markets could remain volatile ahead of pivotal developments later this week, including minutes from the Federal Reserve and a meeting between the US and Chinese presidents," said Vincent Heaney, a strategist at UBS.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Tuesday afternoon that a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 meeting in Argentina this weekend could "turn the page" on the trade war.
On Monday, however, Trump told the Wall Street Journal he expects to move forward with a proposal to more than double the tariff rate from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports in January.
He also said if negotiations between Washington and Beijing don't go well, his administration could place duties on the remainder of shipments from China to the US. Apple, whose products could be included in that tranche, slid as much as 1.5% before paring losses to close down 0.19% at $174.28 a share.
Signs of whether trade tensions or recent market turbulence could influence the Federal Reserve’s rate path will be closely watched for in meeting minutes out Thursday. Tuesday morning, Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said it’s "especially important" to pay attention to new economic data as monetary policy approaches a neutral stance.
The dollar climbed against a basket of peers following the comment, and Treasury yields fell. Home price gains were the weakest in nearly two years in September, rising 5.5% compared with 5.7% a year earlier, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index showed early Tuesday.
Major US shopping days around the Thanksgiving holiday failed to offer much relief, even to retailers that brought in a record number of sales this year. Amazon was mostly flat after the e-commerce giant said the most products in its history were ordered on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF was up 0.3%.
Oil prices were slightly higher, with West Texas Intermediate trading just below $52 per barrel and Brent around $61 a barrel. Prices are still deep in a bear market, having shed more than a quarter of their value over the past three months. OPEC and other major producers led by Russia are set to discuss coordinated production cuts next week.
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