Stocks little changed after report says China wants new round of talks
Stocks opened little changed Thursday after a Wall Street Journal report said China's chief trade negotiator has invited his American counterparts for a new round of talks.
The report comes after Reuters reported on Thursday that the phase one trade deal that President Trump had said he hoped to sign this month may not be completed this year as negotiators continue to wrestle over differences.
All three of the major averages were down about 0.1 percent in early trading.
Charles Schwab is buying TD Ameritrade in $26 billion deal, FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo has learned. Shares of the two brokerage firms are sharply higher, and official word of the deal is expected to come later Thursday. Rival E-Trade was lower while Interactive Brokers gained.
Meanwhile, marijuana stocks are getting a lift after a House committee approved a proposal to decriminalize the drug nationwide. It remains unclear if the bill will see a full House vote.
Tesla is gaining ground ahead of its event Thursday evening where it is scheduled to unveil its Cybertruck. CEO Elon Musk has said the electric pickup truck, which will start at $49,000, is "a better truck than an F-150, in terms of truck-like functionality, and be a better sports car than a [Porsche] 911.”
On the earnings front, Macy's reported mixed third-quarter results and cut its full-year earnings and sales forecasts. The retailer cited the "late arrival of cold weather, continued soft international tourism and weaker than anticipated performance in lower-tier malls" as reasons for declining sales. Nordstrom and Gap will release their quarterly results after the closing bell.
L Brands reported in-line earnings and revenue and forecast a better-than-expected holiday season. The company said same store sales at its Victoria's Secret brand fell 7 percent year-over-year.
Commodities are mixed with gold down 0.3 percent at $1,470 an ounce and West Texas Intermediate crude oil up 1.4 percent at $57.80 a barrel.
U.S. Treasurys were lower, running the yield on the 10-year note up 2.6 basis points to 1.764 percent.
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In Asian trading, Hong Kong led the region with its benchmark Hang Seng index falling 1.6 percent, China's Shanghai Composite lost 0.3 percent and Japan’s Nikkei gave up 0.5 percent.
In Europe, London's FTSE slipped 0.7 percent, Germany's DAX was off 0.1 percent and France's CAC was also down 0.2 percent.
FOX Business' Ken Martin and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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