Wall Street was flat on Tuesday, as earnings failed to offset worries that U.S. charges against Chinese company Huawei could jeopardize planned trade talks between the two countries.
The S&P 500 rose 1 point, or 0.05%, as of 9:30 AM ET (14:30 GMT), while the Dow decreased 8 points, or 0.04%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 3 points, or 0.06%.
The Justice Department charged Huawei and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on Monday, alleging the company stole trade secrets and evaded economic sanctions on Iran.
"Huawei is a competitor and a supplier to U.S. companies, so any negative impact can be felt on a broader spectrum," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) in Austin, Texas.
"But the fact that there are discussions on trade is viewed as a positive," Frederick said. "Investors are expecting positive comments because the (Trump) administration has been cheerleading the market and want markets to move higher."
Earnings continued on Tuesday, with 3M (NYSE:MMM) rising 2.5%, while Xerox (NYSE:XRX) gained 6% after the companies beat estimates, while Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) rose 1.5% despite lowering its revenue outlook for 2019.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) inched up 0.5% ahead of its expected earnings release after the closing bell. Boeing (NYSE:BA) rose 0.3%, while Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) jumped 8.22%.
Verizon (NYSE:VZ) dipped 2.6% after it posted a mixed quarter and Micron (NASDAQ:MU) fell 1.2%.
In commodities, Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,305.85 a troy ounce and crude oil increased 2.7% to $53.47 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.10% to 95.51.
-- Reuters contributed to this report.
