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By Lewis Krauskopf
(Reuters) – The S&P 500 and Nasdaq stock indexes slipped from record highs on Monday as uncertainty about progress in the U.S.-China trade talks again rose to the fore following comments by President Donald Trump, while a jump in Boeing shares helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average eke out a gain.
Investor hopes of a “phase one” trade deal have been a key factor supporting stocks recently, but Trump said on Saturday that the United States would only make a trade deal if it was the “right deal” for America, adding that the talks had moved more slowly than he would have liked.
The three major averages posted all-time closing highs on Friday, and the benchmark S&P 500 () tallied its fifth week of gains in a row.
“A lot of good news is priced into the stock market,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street (NYSE:) Global Advisors. He pointed to the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cuts, third-quarter earnings’ topping low expectations, and signs of a bottoming of economic data.
“It all hinges on a U.S.-China trade deal,” Arone said. “Until we get that clarity, I think stocks are likely to trade back and forth for a little while.”
Investors will be watching for any trade commentary from Trump on Tuesday, when he is expected to speak at The Economic Club of New York.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average () rose 26.92 points, or 0.1%, to 27,708.16, the S&P 500 () lost 5.31 points, or 0.17%, to 3,087.77 and the Nasdaq Composite () dropped 9.55 points, or 0.11%, to 8,465.76.
Shares of Boeing Co (N:) jumped 5.0% to $368.45 after the planemaker said it expected U.S. regulators to approve the return to commercial service of its grounded 737 MAX jet in the coming weeks, and expects commercial service to resume in January. Boeing shares are the biggest weight in the 30-component, price-weighted Dow.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (O:) shares gained 5.6% after Bloomberg reported that KKR & Co (N:) had formally approached the drugstore giant for what could be the biggest-ever leveraged buyout.
Most of the S&P 500 sectors were in the red, with utilities () and healthcare () falling the most.
Investor attention will shift to economic data and testimony by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on the economic outlook later this week, while a handful of big companies including Walmart Inc (N:), Cisco Systems Inc (O:) and Nvidia Corp (O:) will report earnings.
The third-quarter corporate reporting season, which is drawing to a close, has been better-than-expected overall, but S&P 500 companies are still expected to have posted a 0.5% decline in earnings, according to Refinitiv data.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.31-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.25-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 53 new highs and 79 new lows.
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