Wall Street slips as tariff deadline closes in

NEW YORK: Wall Street's main stock indexes ended slightly lower on Tuesday, though not far from record highs, as investors awaited concrete news on whether a new round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would take effect on Dec. 15, a potential turning point in a trade dispute between the world's two largest economies that has convulsed markets.

Stock futures got a boost in premarket trade when the Wall Street Journal said U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators were laying the groundwork for a delay in the tariffs, but White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said later that no decision had been made.