Wall Street close: Benchmarks retreat from record highs, despite news of potential signing ceremony

• The S&P 500 was down 0.6% to end around 3,221.
• The DJIA shed 183 points, or 0.6%, to end near 28,462.
• The Nasdaq Composite finished up 0.7% lower to 8,946.

US benchmarks were giving back some pent-up space on the chars and sliding from record high consolidation territories into the final stags of 2019. US traders were thrown an insightful bone on Monday, following a news article withstand that a Chinese delegation was coming to Washington as soon as this Saturday for the sole purpose of signing a 'phase-one deal with the US. 

Subsequently, and what may at first seem rather counter-intuitively, US stocks fell. The S&P 500 was down 0.6% to end around 3,221 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average, DJIA, shed 183 points, or 0.6%, to end near 28,462, based on preliminary numbers. The Nasdaq Composite finished up 0.7% lower to 8,946, posting its second straight loss. It should be noted also that the index has probably been the most closely correlated to the Sino/US trade spat and hot and cold headlines regarding talks. 

Stocks on the verge of a sell-off?

At this stage, it would not be surprising that we see profits taken off the table if indeed investors have been buying into phase one deal and little else. A typical sell the fact trade could occur which would ultimately sink stocks and bring them back to an even keel into the first quarter of 2020 as investors reassess the global macro on a political and economic scale. We saw the same happen with Brexit. It was all risk on until markets took heed of the foreseeable risks on the horizon and once the euphoria died down, GBP plummeted around 4.5%. 

For the time being, stocks are just off the record highs and we have one full day left of trade to go on Wall Street tomorrow which could seal the bull's fate for 2019 and set the stage for the start of 2020. The open following the Chinese delegation visit on Saturday will be one to watch out for. In corporate news, shares of Tesla Inc. dropped 3.8% as analysts anticipate fewer car deliveries than the automaker's forecasts for 2019.

DJIA levels