LIVE MARKETS-With US-China trade talks "going really, really well," S&P 500 nears record highs

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WITH US-CHINA TRADE TALKS "GOING REALLY, REALLY WELL," S&P 500 NEARS RECORD HIGHS

The main U.S. indexes clawed their way to gains on Tuesday as investors awaited results from U.S.-China trade talks aimed at defusing a tariff dispute that has roiled global markets this year.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said trade talks with Chinese officials were going well and he hoped they would end on Tuesday night, but said they could run into Wednesday.

"I think the talks are going really, really well. We're very much spending time and effort and energy - everybody's got their head down working closely," Lutnick told reporters at Lancaster House in London, where teams from both countries have met for two days.

The S&P 500 index .SPX posted a 0.55% gain on the day. With this, the benchmark index ended at 6,038.81, which puts it down just 1.71% from its 6,144.15 February 19 record close, and down 1.77% from its 6,147.43 February 19 record intraday high.

Nearly all S&P 500 sectors rose on Tuesday with energy .SPNY, up more than 1.5%, scoring the biggest gain. Industrials .SPLRCI, which lost around 0.4%, was the only group to finish red.

Chip stocks .SOX, up just over 2%, were among outperformers, while gold stocks .HUI were on the losing side.

Meanwhile, along with the outcome of the U.S.-China trade talks, investors await May CPI data before the opening bell on Wednesday.

Expectations call for headline CPI to rise 0.2% month-over-month and 2.5% year-over-year. Last month these numbers came in at 0.2% and 2.3% respectively.

Here is a snapshot of where markets stood just shortly after 4 p.m. ET:

(Terence Gabriel)

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