US benchmark equity indexes ended higher Tuesday as markets evaluated minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting and President-elect Donald Trump's comments on tariffs.

* The minutes of the Nov. 6-7 Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed that almost all participants agreed that the risks to the inflation and employment goals remained roughly in balance and it would be appropriate to lower interest rates gradually, but emphasized the FOMC should be ready to move faster or slow to reduce rates based on the underlying data.

* Trump late Monday vowed to impose a 25% tariff on products imported from Mexico and Canada, as well as an additional 10% levy on Chinese goods, according to media reports.

"It's a threat, but not a certainty, and it may be temporary if executed," Scotiabank said in a Tuesday note to clients. "This may be why the reaction across financial markets is not bigger."

* January West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed down $0.17 to settle at $68.77 per barrel, while January Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $0.31 to $72.70 as focus moved to this weekend's OPEC+ meeting and the impact of Trump's tariff threats.

* J.M. Smucker (SJM) logged stronger-than-expected fiscal Q2 results and raised its full-year earnings outlook. The consumer packaged goods company's shares jumped 5.3%.

* Qualcomm's (QCOM) takeover interest in rival chipmaker Intel (INTC) is cooling down amid complexities related to a potential transaction, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing unnamed sources. Intel shares were down 3.4% while Qualcomm fell 1.3%.