US equities struggle for direction

On Monday, American shares struggled for direction, with market participants taking a pause because China and America stared their latest trade talks and American lawmakers attempted to reach a deal on border funding.

The financial markets started on a firm note over the trade negotiations after China's optimistic tone, with market sentiment backed by White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway who expressed confidence of a probable deal.

As a matter of fact, the trade-sensitive industrials sector managed to leap by 0.55%, which is the most impressive outcome amid the 11 key S&P sectors. They were backed by Boeing’s 0.4% leap as well as Caterpillar’s 0.5% ascend.

However, the indexes gave up their early profits right after the healthcare sector tumbled by 0.23%. In general, the sector was suppressed by a more than 1% tumbled in the equities of UnitedHealth Group, Merck & Co, and Pfizer Inc.

Besides this, the latest US-China negotiations come in the face of an approaching March 1 deadline set for making a trade deal. If the two trade partners don’t manage to come to a compromise, extra American levies on China’s imports will come into effect.

ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dived by 0.11% hitting 25,079.66. As for the S&P 500, it managed to tack on by 0.03% being worth 2,708.77. The Nasdaq Composite headed north by 0.19% concluding the trading session at 7,311.93.

Apple Inc went down by 0.2% right after research company IDC reported iPhone sales going down by 20% in China for the fourth quarter of the previous year.

In addition to this, Electronics Arts Inc managed to rally by 5.2%, which is the most impressive result amid S&P 500 companies, right after market experts were optimistic about a firm start to the videogame publisher's newly launched counterpart to "Fortnite".