US close: Stocks end down amid uncertainty about US-China trade talks

Stocks on Wall Street ended in the red on Tuesday following solid gains the previous day, amid uncertainty over US trade talks with China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.7% at 24,834.41, while the S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 2,724.44 and the Nasdaq slipped 0.2% to 7,378.46. Stocks had ended higher on Monday as investors cheered comments from US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said over the weekend that the Trump administration would "put the trade war on hold" as it worked out the details of a deal with China.

However, asked about how trade talks with China were going on Tuesday, US President Trump told reporters that he was "not really happy" and that the negotiations "have a long way to go".

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "It suggests that the trade war relief rally was a one-and-done deal, the kind of macro-news limited in its market-driving potential by a lack of detail and a healthy dose of scepticism about the longevity of any tentative agreement between the US and China."

On the corporate front, department store chain Kohl's fell despite its first-quarter earnings beating expectations on both the top and bottom line.

Dunkin' Brands also ended lower after its board approved a $250m share buyback, while Advance Auto Parts dropped as its first-quarter sales missed analysts' expectations.

Home construction group Toll Brothers slumped despite posting a 17% increase in quarterly revenue, but Micron Technology surged after it announced a deal with Intel to make and ship the next generation of chips used in flash drives and digital cameras.

On the data front, the Richmond Fed manufacturing index painted a solid picture for manufacturing and the US economy.

In one of the earliest views of the month of May, the index came in at +16 versus an expected reading of +10, bouncing back from the previous -3 reading.

Shipments swung from -8 to +15 and revenues jumped from +2 to +11.