U.S. Stocks Mostly Subdued In Lackluster Trade

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks are turning in a mixed performance in lackluster trade on Tuesday as traders await the outcome of the ongoing trade talks between China and the U.S. in London.

Trade negotiations between the world's two largest economies commenced on Monday, and no big breakthrough seems to have been arrived as yet.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters the talks are "going well" and said he expects the negotiations to continue all day today.

A lack of major U.S. economic data is also keeping some traders on the sidelines as they look ahead to the release of crucial reports on consumer and producer price inflation in the coming days.

The major U.S. averages are all moving in a narrow range. The Dow was up 7.10 points or 0.02 percent at 42,768.90 a little while ago. The S&P 500 was up 5.55 points or 0.09 percent at 6,005.91, and the Nasdaq was gaining 61.28 points or 0.31 percent at 19,591.24.

Among the notable gainers in the session, Target is up 4.7 percent, Eli Lilly is rising 3.1 percent, Chevron is advancing nearly 3 percent, Exxon Mobil is up 2.5 percent, Micron Technology is up 2.4 percent, and FedEx is climbing 2.3 percent.

Merck, Southwest Airlines, AT&T, Biogen, Alphabet, PayPal, Pfizer, Amgen, Accenture, Texas Instruments and Airbnb are also notably higher.

Netflix is down more than 3 percent. Gilead Sciences, Travelers Companies, Oracle, Amazon, McDonalds, Microsoft and Boeing are down 1 to 2 percent.

In economic news, a report from the National Federation of Independent Business said the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index in the US increased to 98.8 in May 2025, the highest in three months, compared to 95.8 in April. The reading was expected to come in with a score of 95.9.

"Although optimism recovered slightly in May, uncertainty is still high among small business owners. While the economy will continue to stumble along until the major sources of uncertainty are resolved, owners reported more positive expectations on business conditions and sales growth", NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelber said.