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* U.S.-China trade talks hit snag over farm purchases- WSJ
* Powell says 'sustained expansion' likely for U.S. economy
* Disney top boost to Dow as Disney+ reaches 10 mln sign-ups
* SmileDirectClub shares plunge after co posts loss
* Indexes: Dow up 0.19%, S&P down 0.04%, Nasdaq down 0.2%
(Updates to late afternoon)
By Lewis Krauskopf
Nov 13 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq stock indexes
slipped on Wednesday on fresh uncertainty over U.S.-China trade
relations, while a jump in Walt Disney shares boosted the Dow.
Stocks pulled back in afternoon trading after the Wall
Street Journal reported that U.S.-China trade negotiations have
hit a snag over farm purchases, the latest development in a
dispute between the two countries that has convulsed markets for
more than a year.
The three indexes had all been up earlier in the session,
with the Dow hitting a record high, before the Journal report.
Stocks drifted higher after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome
Powell said U.S. central bankers see a "sustained expansion"
ahead for the country's economy. Stocks have recently climbed to records, fueled by Fed
interest rate cuts, third-quarter earnings exceeding low
expectations and signs the economy is bottoming, while the
U.S.-China trade dispute remains a key wild card.
"After a nice run, we are getting a little bit of pullback,"
said Mona Mahajan, U.S. investment strategist with Allianz
Global Investors.
"Part of that run was driven by U.S.-China trade perhaps
thawing or starting to see some at least resolution or trade
truce, so this headline that just broke is not great for that
part of the story."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 53.81 points,
or 0.19%, to 27,745.3, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.27 points, or
0.04%, to 3,090.57 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
16.71 points, or 0.2%, to 8,469.38.
Among the S&P 500 sectors, traditionally defensive groups
such as utilities .SPLRCU , real estate .SPLRCR and consumer
staples .SPLRCS were in positive territory, while cyclical
sectors, such as energy .SPNY and materials .SPLRCM which
are known for tracking the health of the economy, lagged.
"The leadership today is defensive," Mahajan said.
Walt Disney Co DIS.N shares jumped 5.9% after the media
company said its new streaming service, Disney+, reached 10
million sign-ups since launching the previous day. shares provided the biggest boost to the Dow.
Shares of streaming rival Netflix Inc NFLX.O sank 2.9%.
SmileDirectClub Inc SDC.O shares slumped 18.8% after the
teeth alignment company reported a bigger quarterly loss.
About three-fourths of S&P 500 companies have topped
earnings estimates in their third-quarter reports, but the
companies are still expected to have posted an overall 0.5%
decline in earnings, according to Refinitiv data.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.32-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.53-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 23 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 73 new highs and 103 new lows.