US: Dow edges to another record on trade optimism

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks paused on Tuesday in record range on rising hopes over US-China trade talks as US services sector data topped expectations.

The Dow mustered a narrow record for a second day in a row, while the S&P 500 fell slightly and the Nasdaq was flat.

Hopes that the United States and China will soon seal "phase one" of a trade agreement got another push Tuesday following a Wall Street Journal report that said the two sides could roll back prior tariff measures to finalize the agreement.

Analysts also pointed to a report from the Institute for Supply Management that showed services sector activity rebounded in October from a three-year low in the prior month.

"The headwinds we have are the obvious with the trade war but there's been some progress made on that front," said ISM's Anthony Nieves.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1 per cent to 27,492.43.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.1 per cent to 3,074.66, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was little changed at 8,434.68.

Dow member Boeing rose 2.0 per cent after Chairman David Calhoun gave a forceful vote of confidence in CEO Dennis Muilenburg and said the 737 Max was on track to receive regulatory approval this year to return to service after two deadly crashes.

Adobe jumped 4.3 per cent as it released sales and profit targets above expectations and offered a bullish outlook for the potential market for its cloud computing products.

Walgreens Boots Alliance advanced 2.6 per cent following a report that the drugstore chain has considered going private.

AFP