US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq hold near record levels after Trump remarks

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* Trump says China trade deal "close" but no signing details
* Walt Disney gains after Disney+ launch
* Rockwell jumps after profit beat
* CBS drops on revenue miss
* Indexes: Dow down 0.06%, S&P up 0.08%, Nasdaq up 0.12%

(Updates to late afternoon)
By Lewis Krauskopf
Nov 12 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes edged
higher after earlier hitting record peaks on Tuesday while the
Dow dipped slightly as President Donald Trump said the United
States is close to signing an initial trade deal with China but
offered no new details about negotiations.
Stocks were off session highs after a highly anticipated
midday speech from Trump, with investors concerned ahead of time
about any comments that would worsen the tariff dispute that has
convulsed markets for more than a year.
Trump said U.S. and Chinese negotiators were "close" to a
"phase one" trade deal, but largely repeated well-worn rhetoric
about China's "cheating" on trade in remarks at The Economic
Club of New York. "The commentary was exactly what folks wanted to hear: that
'phase one' talks are still ongoing, that we are controlling
them, but yet the belief is that China is very willing to make a
deal," said Delores Rubin, senior equities trader at Deutsche
Bank Wealth Management in New York.
"There was nothing contrary to what we'd already known ...
so it was back to business,” Rubin said.
Investors have pointed to U.S.-China trade tensions as the
main market uncertainty as stocks have climbed to record levels,
fueled by rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, third-quarter
earnings coming in above low expectations, and signs the economy
may be bottoming.
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
15.67 points, or 0.06%, to 27,675.82, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
2.54 points, or 0.08%, to 3,089.55 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 10.53 points, or 0.12%, to 8,474.81.
Most S&P 500 sectors were in positive territory, with
healthcare .SPXHC gaining the most. Energy .SPNY lagged the
most, falling 0.9%.
Among stocks, Walt Disney Co DIS.N rose 1.3% as the
company said demand for its much-anticipated streaming service,
Disney+, was well above its expectations in a launch.
Shares of Netflix Inc NFLX.O were down 1.2%. Rockwell Automation Inc ROK.N jumped 11.1% after the U.S.
factory equipment maker easily beat quarterly results and
forecast 2020 earnings above estimates. CBS Corp CBS.N dropped 3.3% after the media company missed
quarterly revenue estimates. Shares of Viacom Inc VIAB.O ,
which is merging with CBS, were also down 3.6%. With third-quarter earnings season drawing to a close, about
three-quarters of S&P 500 companies have topped profit
estimates, but overall they are expected to have posted a 0.5%
drop in earnings, according to Refinitiv.
Earnings from big firms including Walmart Inc WMT.N ,
Nvidia Corp NVDA.O and Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O , as well as
a fresh set of economic data, are due this week.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.02-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.02-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 41 new 52-week highs and two new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 104 new highs and 88 new lows.