Stocks Waver as China Calls Reports of U.S. Tariff Talks ‘Baseless’

Stock markets stalled on Thursday, after officials in China said they were not holding talks with the United States about easing trade tensions between the superpowers. That paused a two-day rally, as indexes continued to swing on comments and scraps of information about tariffs in the absence of concrete developments about the escalating global trade war.

Futures for the S&P 500 fluctuated between small losses and gains. The index has seesawed this week as investors reacted to remarks by President Trump, who said this week that . . .