Stocks suffer big drop on trade news, BUT…

Stocks opened lower this morning. Then trading was sideways for the first half of the day, with the S&P stuck in a 7 point range.

But stocks suffered a sharp drop around 1pm ET after reports that a Phase One deal might be delayed, and not completed this year.

After the quick drop traders turned their attention towards last month’s Fed Minutes release.

The minutes showed that the Fed doesn’t plan on more cuts, at least for now.

There really wasn’t any new information to digest. But nonetheless, after trading at session lows ahead of the minutes, stocks bounced back after the release.

The S&P was down almost 1.0% but managed to end the session with just a 0.4% loss.

Here’s where the major indices ended the day:

• The S&P finished with a 0.4% loss. Down 12 points, the S&P ended at 3,108.
• The DOW ended lower by 0.4%. Dropping 113 points, the DOW closed at 27,821.
• The NASDAQ was down 0.5%. With a 44 point loss, the NASDAQ finished at 8,527.

Crude Oil (CL) was up nicely after Crude Oil Inventories showed a 1.4 million barrel increase in U.S. stockpiles. The increase was slightly higher than traders expected but below the 6 million barrel forecast from the American Petroleum Institute yesterday. With a 3.1% gain, CL finished the day at $57.05 a barrel, erasing yesterday’s loss.

Trade sensitive stocks were some of the hardest hit today due to the Phase One trade deal news.

Apple (AAPL) and Caterpillar (CAT) both finished lower by 1.2%. And Qualcomm (QCOM) lost 2.7%.

But Target (TGT) was a big winner, up 14.1% after reporting strong earnings results. Lowes (LOW) was also an earnings winner, ending the day with a 3.9% gain.

In after-hours trading, there was some positive retail news after L Brands (LB), the parent company of Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, reported earnings that were in-line with expectations. The stock was up almost 5.0% in after-hours trading.