WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After moving to the upside early in the session, stocks remain mostly positive in mid-day trading on Tuesday. With the upward move on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have reached new record intraday highs.
Currently, the major averages are off their best levels but holding on to modest gains. The Dow is up 24.87 points or 0.1 percent at 27,716.36, the Nasdaq is up 35.73 points or 0.4 percent at 8,500.01 and the S&P 500 is up 9.26 points or 0.3 percent at 3,096.27.
The strength on Wall Street comes as traders seem optimistic ahead of President Donald Trump's speech at the Economic Club of New York this afternoon.
Trump's remarks are likely to be closely watched for his assessment of the state of U.S.-China trade talks and signs of progress toward a phase one trade deal.
White House spokesman Judd Deere indicated Trump would tout the strength of the U.S. economy under his administration but provided few details.
'You can expect the president to highlight how his policies of lower taxes, deregulation, and fair and reciprocal trade have supported the longest economic recovery in U.S. history with record low unemployment, rising wages, and soaring consumer confidence,' Deere said.
Optimism about an end to the U.S.-China trade war has contributed to recent strength on Wall Street, lifting the major averages to record highs.
Trump has remained hopeful about a potential trade deal but has repeatedly pledged to only accept an agreement that is good for the U.S.
Last week, U.S. and Chinese officials said the two economic superpowers had agreed to roll back existing tariffs as part of a phase one trade deal, but Trump later said he has not agreed to lift the tariffs on China.
A report from Reuters noted the idea of rolling back tariffs faces fierce internal opposition from the president's advisers.
Multiple sources familiar with the talks told Reuters the idea of a tariff rollback was not part of the original October 'handshake' deal between Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.
Citing current and former administration officials, Reuters said there is a divide within the administration over whether rolling back tariffs will give away U.S. leverage in the negotiations.
Despite the advance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors continue to show only modest moves in mid-day trading.
Biotechnology, software and semiconductor stocks are seeing some strength, contributing to the upward move by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, while telecom stocks have shown a notable move to the downside.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.5 percent.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction as trading resumes following the holiday on Monday. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 1.926 percent.
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