Wall Street struggled for momentum on Tuesday, giving up early gains as a rebound in technology stocks and renewed hope for progress in trade talks were offset by drops in Boeing and energy stocks.

Energy stocks weighed heaviest on the S&P 500, driven down after crude prices fell 7.2 per cent.

Technology bounced back from recent losses, edging the Nasdaq into positive territory.

U.S.-China trade tensions enjoyed a reprieve as negotiations between the world's two largest economies appeared to be making headway.

China President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump are expected to meet at a G20 summit in Argentina at the end of November in an ongoing effort to iron out trade differences that have troubled markets for much of the year.

Tariff-vulnerable industrial stocks <.SPLRCI> were up 0.3 per cent, led by General Electric Co and Caterpillar Inc .

"(Trade is) still an open question. It's still a work in progress," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama. "It will continue to dog the markets short term until it gets worked out"

General Electric was up 8.6 per cent as the conglomerate unveiled plans to raise $4 billion by accelerating a sale of its stake in oilfield services provider Baker Hughes .

Homebuilder Beazer Homes USA Inc jumped 28.6 per cent after its quarterly revenue topped estimates and the company announced a $50 million buyback scheme.

Home Depot Inc posted better-than-expected same-store sales, but suggested that U.S. home sales were slowing down and impending tariffs could lead to price hikes for its products.. The stock recovered from early losses, and was last up 0.3 percent.

Amazon.com shares were down 0.4 per cent following the online retailer's announcement that it had selected New York City and Northern Virginia for its two new headquarters.

Shares of Tyson Foods Inc dropped 5.8 per cent, the biggest percentage loser on the S&P 500, after the top U.S. meat processor's sales missed Wall Street estimates due to lower demand for chicken.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 126.93 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 25,260.25, the S&P 500 lost 4.23 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 2,721.99 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.81 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 7,202.67.

Third-quarter earnings season approaches the final stretch, with 91 percent of S&P 500 companies having reported, 77.5 per cent of which have beaten estimates, according to Refinitiv data.

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, six were in negative territory.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.04-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.04-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 8 new 52-week highs and 9 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 15 new highs and 126 new lows.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)