Nucor earnings beat by $0.08, revenue fell short of estimates
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* High-level U.S.-China trade talks to start on Oct. 10
* Nvidia gains as RBC raises PT
* GM falls as UAW rejects latest offer
* Dow off 0.06%, S&P 500 flat, Nasdaq up 0.11%
(Updates market action, adds comments)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Oct 7 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks cut losses on Monday after
comments from White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow calmed
nerves over the outcome of scheduled high-level trade talks with
China later in the week, with chipmaker Nvidia buoying the
tech-heavy Nasdaq index.
It was possible that the two sides could make progress
during the talks in Washington and the United States was open to
looking at Beijing's proposals, Kudlow told reporters.
That helped Wall Street's three main indexes pare losses
from the opening, with the Nasdaq .IXIC reversing course to
trade higher.
Tariff concessions from the United States and China last
month had fueled hopes of a resolution to the prolonged dispute,
but a report that Beijing was increasingly reluctant to agree to
a broad trade deal pursued by President Donald Trump weighed on
sentiment.
The high-level negotiations are set to begin on Thursday.
"The market is going to be volatile until we get some news
out of Washington. Everything, literally, depends on the tone
around trade," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist, at
National Securities in New York.
Wall Street logged a choppy start to October on anxiety over
mixed economic indicators and intensifying efforts to impeach
Trump, but that was offset by rising bets of a third interest
rate cut this year by the Federal Reserve.
A second whistleblower has come forward with first-hand
knowledge of Trump's attempts to get the Ukrainian president to
investigate a political rival, lawyers for the official said on
Sunday. Investors will now turn to the third-quarter earnings
season, which kicks off next week with U.S. banks reporting, for
more clarity on the impact of the trade war on Corporate
America.
Analysts expect the lowest quarterly profit performance
since 2016, with S&P 500 earnings seen falling nearly 3% from a
year earlier, based on IBES data from Refinitiv.
At 11:22 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 15.64 points, or 0.06%, at 26,558.08, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 0.96 points, or 0.03%, at 2,951.05 and the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 8.68 points, or 0.11%, at
7,991.15.
The gains in Nasdaq were driven by a 2.7% rise in Nvidia
Corp NVDA.O . RBC Capital Markets raised its price target on
the semiconductor maker, citing improved gaming and data center
demand.
E*Trade Financial Corp ETFC.O rose 3.1% after UBS upgraded
the online broker's shares to "buy".
General Motors Co GM.N slipped after striking workers
rejected the No. 1 U.S. carmaker's latest offer of a four-year
labor contract. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.09-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a
1.23-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded three new 52-week highs and one new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 18 new highs and 54 new lows.