Investing.com – The Dow closed modestly higher Tuesday after paring losses following gains in Walmart and growing hopes the U.S. and China will reach a trade deal.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.03%, the S&P 500 added 0.15%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.19%.
With less than two weeks until the current 90-day trade war truce expires, President Donald Trump hinted the March 1 deadline could be extended, saying it is not a "magical date."
The United States and China kicked off another round of talks as they look to reach a deal before the deadline.
Trade-sensitive names like Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) ended the session in the red.
In the run-up to the talks, Trump said in tweet: “Big progress being made on soooo (sic) many different fronts!”
Dow component Walmart (NYSE:WMT) rose 2% after it reported fourth-quarter results that topped estimates from Investing.com on the bottom line, supported by a 43% surge in e-commerce.
The upbeat report from Walmart comes a week after the U.S. Census Bureau said retail sales in December fell by the most since 2009, which fueled fears that the strength of the U.S. consumer was on the wane.
In tech, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) came under fire as U.K. lawmakers dubbed the social media company a "digital gangster," claiming it had knowingly violating data and privacy laws in the country.
Other FANG stocks, including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) ended the day higher.
Energy also propped up the broader market as oil prices settled higher despite a report from the Energy Information Administration forecasting a jump in shale output.
U.S. oil output from seven major shale plays is forecast to climb by 84,000 barrels a day in March to 8.398 million barrels a day, according to a report from the EIA.
Concerns about global growth, however, kept a lid on gains in the broader market.
The World Trade Organization warned its outlook on trade growth could be revised downward if trade conditions continue to deteriorate. Trade growth is currently forecast to slow to 3.7% in 2019 from an expected 3.9% in 2018.
In other news, Ford Motor (NYSE:F) shares rose 3.4% after the automaker said it would exit its heavy commercial truck business in South America and halt production at a Brazilian plant this year in an attempt to improve profitability in the region.
Weight Watchers International (NASDAQ:WTW) plunged 4.5% after JPMorgan downgraded the company to an underweight rating and cut its price target on the stock to $25 from $37, citing signs of declining user growth on the WW app.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX), Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) and Newmont (NYSE:NEM) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
Allegion (NYSE:ALLE), Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) and International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session