U.S. stocks ended Tuesday's session mixed, with the Dow posting modest gains and setting a new intraday high, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched modest losses as investors parsed fourth-quarter results from several major financial firms as earnings season began in earnest.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 27 points, or 0.1% to end the day at around 28,935, the S&P 500 index lost about 5 points, or 0.2% to close at 3,283 and the Nasdaq Composite index retreated 23 points, or 0.2% to end at approximately 9,251.

Stocks were boosted in early trade by better-than-expected earnings reports from Citigroup Inc. and Dow component JPMorgan Chase & Co. with Citi's stock gaining 1.6% on the day and JP Morgan's adding 1.2%. Wells Fargo & Co. results disappointed, however, and the bank's shares fell 5.4% Tuesday.

Investors were also eyeing developments in U.S.-China trade, with a phase-one deal set to be singed Wednesday.

Stocks hit session lows after a report from Bloomberg News said that existing tariffs on Chinese imports would likely stay in place through the election, before mostly recovering those losses.

Source : MarketWatch