US STOCKS-Wall Street treads water as tariff deadline nears

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* U.S., China planning for delay of Dec tariff - WSJ
* Autozone up after profit beat, peers rise
* Netflix drops after Needham downgrade
* Dow flat, S&P 500 up 0.04%, Nasdaq up 0.14%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Arjun Panchadar
Dec 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks gave up gains to trade nearly
flat in a choppy session on Tuesday as investors focussed on
trade-related headlines ahead of a new round of tariffs on
Chinese goods.
The three main indexes were nudged higher earlier in the day
after the Wall Street Journal reported that the United States
and China were planning to delay tariffs and that officials from
both sides hinted at extending their trade talks. "I think that both sides are going to find a way to delay
the imposition of new tariffs on Dec. 15," said Art Hogan, chief
market strategist at National Securities in New York.
"We just don't know if that is true right now that is why
the market has been acting skittishly. I think that we are still
waiting on news."
Apple Inc AAPL.O , shares of which are often sensitive to
news on trade, gained 1%. The broader S&P 500 technology sector
.SPLRCT rose 0.3%.
The communication services sector .SPLRCL slipped, weighed
down by Netflix Inc's NFLX.O 1.4% fall after Needham
downgraded the company's shares to "underperform". Federal Open Market Committee's two-day policy meeting
kicks off on Tuesday and investors are expecting updates from
the central bank on its 2020 economic outlook.
The S&P 500 is up 25% so far this year, boosted by the
Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts and some relief over
corporate profits.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 0.11 points,
or 0.00%, at 27,909.71, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 1.34 points,
or 0.04%, at 3,137.30 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up
12.16 points, or 0.14%, at 8,633.99.
On other trade-related development, Canada, Mexico and the
United States agreed to a fresh overhaul of their
quarter-century-old regional trade pact after negotiators
approved changes to a preliminary deal struck last year and
officials will sign the new agreement on Tuesday. Shares in Autozone Inc AZO.N jumped 7% after the auto
parts retailer beat quarterly estimates for profit. Shares of
Advance Auto Parts AAP.N and O'Reilly Automotive ORLY.O also
rose.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.03-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.13-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 21 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 60 new highs and 52 new lows.