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U.S. trade deficit with China narrows sharply, U.S. retail stocks can't catch a break, and Lacker's out at the Richmond Fed. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.

Trade, Less Unbalanced

When Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Donald Trump later this week, he'll be able to point to one way in which the world's second-largest economy has addressed Washington's worries about trade deficits. Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau showed that China became the top buyer of American crude oil in February, taking the crown from Canada. Conversely, America's imports of Chinese goods saw their largest one-month drop on record. Currently, eight U.S. states run trade surpluses with China—the largest of those, belonging to Louisiana, is fueled by agricultural products.

Retail Fails

Embattled retail stocks are the year's worst-performing U.S. group, afflicted with negative traffic trends, analyst downgrades, and potential tax policy changes. The S&P 1500 Apparel Retail Index took it on the chin Tuesday, closing down 2.6 percent. These firms, which import a large portion of the goods they sell to end-consumers, would be among the biggest losers if an across-the-board border adjustment tax were implemented. Their resistance to this controversial part of the House Republican tax plan has been fierce.

Lacker Resigns

Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker resigned after admitting that he “crossed the line to confirming information that should have remained confidential” to an analyst from Medley Global Advisors in 2012. The regional Fed chief said he failed to decline to comment or end the interview when non-public information was brought up on the phone call. A report released by the research firm ahead of the Fed's December meeting suggested that the central bank would soon be adding $45 billion worth of U.S. Treasuries to its asset purchasing program. Lacker was scheduled to retire in October.

U.S. Stocks Go Nowhere

The S&P 500 index inched higher on Tuesday on a directionless day for stocks. Banks and Ford Motor Co. extended the previous day's declines, while energy shares gained in sympathy with crude oil. The U.S. dollar index was flat while the 10-year Treasury yield rose a little more than 4 basis points.

Futures Up

Nikkei 225 and S&P/ASX 200 futures are trading to the upside as of 6:23 a.m. Tokyo time. The yen's advance, as well as poor March sales results for Japanese automakers, weighed on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index Tuesday.

What we've been reading 

This is what caught our eye over the last 24 hours.

• Jamie Dimon warns that “something is wrong” with the U.S.

• Chinese tech giant delays paying its U.S. employees.

• Wins Finance Holdings Inc. is set to lose its spot in the Russell 2000 index.

• A $71-million diamond is bought at auction by a Hong Kong-based jewelry retailer.

• Look at real yields to understand today's markets.

• Unexpected decline in U.S. car demand bad news for Trump's planned auto renaissance.

• This robot makes perfect salads.

To contact the author of this story: Luke Kawa in New York at lkawa@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net.