U.S. stock markets were muted and closed mixed on Monday. Market participants’ sentiments were subdued following the reinitiation of trade talks between the United States and China. The Nasdaq Composite ended in positive territory. The S&P 500 finished marginally higher while the Dow closed marginally lower.  

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 1.11 points to close at 42,761.76. Notably, 13 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory and 17 finished in negative zone. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 19,591.24, rising 0.3% due to strong performance of semiconductor bigwigs. 

However, the major gainer of the tech-laden index was Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN Quick QuoteREGN - Free Report) . The stock price of the biotech firm climbed 4.9%. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to finish at 6,005.88. Wall Street’s most observed benchmark is currently around 2% away from its all-time high. Seven out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in negative territory while four in positive zone.

The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY), the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) and the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) rose 0.8%, 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively. On the other hand, the Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) dropped 0.6%.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 2.3% to 17.16. A total of 17.1 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 17.8 billion. The S&P 500 recorded 16 new 52-week highs and 4 new 52-week lows. The Nasdaq registered 97 new 52-week highs and 46 new 52-week lows.

U.S.-China Trade Talk

The trade and tariff related negotiations between the United States and China reinitiated in London. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and two other top level Trump administration officials are negotiating with their Chinese counterparts in order to negotiate tariffs and trade related disputes between the two largest trading partners of the world.

Aside from Bessent, other two U.S. delegators will be Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will hold the first round of trade and economic talks with the U.S. Talks will continue on Tuesday. 

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC on Monday that the U.S. was seeking confirmation that China would restore critical mineral exports. Beijing protested against the U.S. Commerce Department’s warnings to U.S. chipset manufacturers against using Chinese semiconductors. 

On May 12, the United States and China have decided to for a 90-day pause of tariff implementations. The two countries agreed in a discussion in Switzerland to reach a temporary agreement that “reciprocal” tariffs between both countries will be cut from 125% to 10%. United States’ 20% tariffs on Chinese imports relating to fentanyl will remain intact, meaning total tariffs on China will be 30%. 

Economic Data

The Department of Commerce reported that Wholesale Inventories increased 0.2% in April, higher-than the Zacks consensus Estimate of a break-even. The data for March was revised downward to 0.3% from 0.4% reported earlier. 

Year over year, wholesale inventories advanced 2.3% in April. Wholesale stocks of prescription medication surged 1.3% in April. U.S. wholesale inventories increased in April following stockpiling of prescription medication in anticipation of the imposition of tariffs by the Trump administration.