Investing.com - Stocks finished solidly higher Tuesday, but off intraday highs after some late selling on a report of more difficulties in U.S.-China trade talks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.82%, up more than 200 points, but had spent most of the day up more than 300. The S&P 500 added 0.80%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.14%. The gains still erased about a third of Monday's big losses.
Trade talks between the U.S. and China reportedly hit a snag, CNN reported this afternoon, citing sources close to the discussions. The news appeared to sour earlier sentiment on trade, even as President Donald Trump denied that talks had stalled.
Trump showed no intention of escalating trade tensions in the wake of Beijings plans to launch retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, calling the current trade dispute a "little squabble."
"We have a dialogue going. It will always continue," said Trump, who had earlier announced plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at a G20 summit in Japan late next month in a bid to make progress on the trade dispute.
Despite the uncertainty over trade, industrials and tech stocks, which are trade-sensitive sectors, ended the day higher.
But analysts said the rebound in the market was less likely a sign that optimism on trade had returned, but rather a relief rally following the bloody session on Wall Street a day earlier.
"(Yesterday's move) was probably just a little too much to the downside," said Chris Battifarano, investment chief at FineMark National Bank & Trust in Ft. Myers, Fla.
Energy stocks were also in favor, gaining more than 1%, on rising domestic oil prices as traders increased bets on a potential supply disruption following fresh reports of violence in the Middle East in the wake of two drone attacks on oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia.
On the earnings front, Tencent Music Entertainment (NYSE:TME) slumped after delivering first-quarter sales late Monday that missed expectations from Investing.com.
Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) racked up gains, rising 3.5% despite posting mixed results and giving a downbeat outlook as it lost ground to free-to-play games like Fortnite.
In other company news, Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) (DIS) rose 1.4% after it agreed to acquire Comcast’s 33% stake in Hulu and take full control of the streaming service.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
CenturyLink (NYSE:CTL), Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) and General Electric (NYSE:GE) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL), Xylem (NYSE:XYL) and Church & Dwight Company (NYSE:CHD) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.