US stocks cautious during opening trade, await Trump-Xi summit

Major US equity indices witnessed a mixed opening on Tuesday as investors remained skeptic over the US President Donald Trump's ability to deliver on his promised pro-growth economic policies, especially after the Trump administration failed to push through a healthcare legislation.

Moreover, given Trump's protectionist stance, markets also remained cautious and traders refrained from placing any fresh bullish bets ahead of Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week.

During opening hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down around 10-points to 20,640, while the broader S&P 500 Index lost 2-points to 2,356. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index outperformed the broader indices and added nearly 5-points to move back to 5,900 mark.

On economic data front, the US trade deficit sank to $43.6 billion in February, but did little to boost traders’ sentiment on Tuesday. Later during the day, Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo's speech would be looked upon for clues over the central bank's monetary policy outlook.

Investors this week, however, would remain focused on the release of latest FOMC meeting minutes on Wednesday and the keenly watched NFP data on Friday.