Stocks slip as uncertainty reigns in US-China trade talks

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks mostly fell on Monday as uncertainty continues to hang over U.S.-China trade talks, or at least over investors' perception of them.

The stock market has been rallying for five weeks in part on optimism that the United States and China are nearing a stopgap deal to calm their dispute. But President Donald Trump said over the weekend that reports about U.S. willingness to lift tariffs were "incorrect," only two days after a Chinese official said both sides agreed to rollbacks if talks progress.

Stocks dropped as soon as trading began Monday, and the S&P 500 lost as much as 0.6% from its record level, though indexes pared their losses as the day progressed.

By the end of trading, the S&P 500 was down 6.07 points, or 0.2%, at 3,087.01. The Nasdaq composite slipped 11.04, or 0.1%, to 8,464.28.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was an outlier and eked out another record, in large part because of a big gain for Boeing. It added 10.25 points, or less than 0.1%, to 27,691.49.

A still-strong job market, interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and better-than-expected corporate earnings in the summer have all contributed to a nearly 9% leap for the S&P 500 since late August. The market's focus, though, has lately seemed to revolve only around the state of U.S.-China trade negotiations.

Stocks in the financial and energy industries have been generally rising since Trump said last month that the U.S. and China were negotiating "Phase One" of a trade deal. But these so-called "cyclical" stocks, whose profits are closely tied to the economic cycle, were among Monday's losers. Such sudden snaps in movement are frustrating for investors who prefer looking at the longer term.

"The market is myopically focused on the next minute," said Michael...