U.S. stocks opened barely higher as investors continue to wait for news from the second day of U.S.-China trade talks in London .
Earlier, Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said he expected an agreement to emerge that would loosen controls on U.S. exports of semiconductors in exchange for China's releasing of more rare earths.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said talks were "going well."
The London talks follow a phone call between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping , the first between the two since Trump took office and after Trump accused China of violating terms of a tariff pause agreed upon in Switzerland last month.
At 9:40 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow inched up 0.01%, or 6.4 points, to 42,768.16; the broad S&P 500 edged up 0.18%, or 11.04 points, to 6,016.92; and the tech-laden Nasdaq rose 0.29%, or 56.4 points, to 19,647.64. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.446%.
Meanwhile, a barometer of small business sentiment rose last month to post its first increase this year. An optimism index from the National Federation of Independent Business on May rose to 98.8, above the long-run average, as tariff worries waned and optimism rose that Trump's tax bill could boost the economy.
Later this week, investors will see May inflation data. The May reports will reflect the first full month of price changes since Trump announced aggressive tariffs on April 2 . Since then, many of the highest tariffs have been put on ice but others have gone into effect.
Corporate news
Cryptocurrency
Paraguay President Santiago Pena's X account had likely been hacked to say that the Latin American country had made bitcoin legal tender and that it would roll out a $5 million bitcoin-backed reserve fund.
The post was deleted and the government said "the president's official X account has presented irregular activity which suggests possible unauthorized entry."
Bitcoin was last down 0.71% at $109,457.40.
(This story was updated with new information.)
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US tocks open little changed with China trade talks in second day