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* U.S., China planning for delay of Dec tariff - WSJ
* Autozone up after profit beat, peers rise
* Netflix drops after Needham downgrade
* Indexes up: Dow 0.03%, S&P 500 0.09%, Nasdaq 0.20%
(Adds comments, updates price action)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Arjun Panchadar
Dec 10 (Reuters) - Wall Street's indexes edged higher in
choppy trading on Tuesday after a report that the United States
and China were planning to delay a new round of tariffs set to
kick in on Dec. 15.
Officials from both sides also hinted at extending their
trade talks, the Wall Street Journal reported. With the trade war continuing to take a toll on global
growth, markets have been hoping for a delay in tariffs and
looking for positive headlines on the talks.
"I think that both sides are going to find a way to delay
the imposition of new tariffs on Dec. 15," said Art Hogan, chief
market strategist at National Securities in New York.
"We just don't know if that is true right now that is why
the market has been acting skittishly. I think that we are still
waiting on news."
Apple Inc AAPL.O , shares of which are often sensitive to
news on trade, gained 1%. The broader S&P 500 technology sector
.SPLRCT rose 0.4%.
The communication services sector .SPLRCL slipped, weighed
down by Netflix Inc's NFLX.O 1.7% fall after Needham
downgraded the company's shares to "underperform". Federal Open Market Committee's two-day policy meeting
kicks off on Tuesday and investors are expecting updates from
the central bank on its 2020 economic outlook.
The S&P 500 is up 25% so far this year, boosted by the
Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts and some relief over
corporate profits.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 9.73 points,
or 0.03%, at 27,919.33, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 2.70 points,
or 0.09%, at 3,138.66 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up
17.49 points, or 0.20%, at 8,639.32.
On other trade-related development, Canada, Mexico and the
United States agreed to a fresh overhaul of their
quarter-century-old regional trade pact after negotiators
approved changes to a preliminary deal struck last year and
officials will sign the new agreement on Tuesday. Shares in Autozone Inc AZO.N jumped 6.7% after the auto
parts retailer beat quarterly estimates for profit. Shares of
peers Advance Auto Parts AAP.N and O'Reilly Automotive
ORLY.O also rose.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.20-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.33-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 21 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 53 new highs and 39 new lows.