The economy seems to be settling into a trend level growth pattern of something in the 2 percent range.

A gas station worker refuels a car in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province. China raised the retail prices of gasoline and diesel on Tuesday. China Daily

New York, United States (AFP) — Oil prices tumbled Tuesday as lingering questions over the US-China trade talks weighed on sentiment on a mixed day for global equity markets.

Both US benchmark West Texas Intermediate and London’s Brent oil fell sharply on signs Beijing and Washington may be drifting further apart again.

Worries about the trade war have weighed on the global growth outlook, crimping petroleum demand. Analysts are also on edge ahead of a weekly US oil inventory report that is expected to show higher stockpiles.

“The lack of breakthrough or concrete progress on an initial US-China deal continues to create headwinds, particularly after both sides had offered indications that a signed phase one agreement was seemingly imminent only a few weeks earlier,” said a note from Robbie Fraser, senior commodity analyst at Schneider Electric.

The latest hang-up in talks has been signs that China will agree to a “phase one” agreement only if Washington agrees to remove some existing tariffs, something US President Donald Trump has opposed.

At the close, European stocks were mixed after giving up most or all of their earlier gains, while Wall Street finished mostly lower, with the Dow and S&P 500 retreating from records, even as the Nasdaq notched a third straight all-time high.

The Dow was weighed down by a more than 5 percent drop in Home Depot shares as it slashed its full-year sales forecast, saying the payoff from investments in e-commerce and other ventures was taking longer than expected.

Despite that disappointment, analysts took heart in other aspects of the Home Depot report, including a 3.6 percent increase in comparable sales.

They also cited better-than-expected US home construction data.

“The economy seems to be settling into a trend level growth pattern of something in the 2 percent range,” economist Joel Naroff said in a client note.

“An improvement in home construction would help offset what is likely to be a slowdown in consumption to a more sustainable pace.