Wall Street opens modestly lower as next round of trade talks begin

Major equity indexes in the U.S. started the day in the negative territory as investors refrain from making any bets while waiting for fresh headlines on the outcome of today's trade negotiations. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were both down 0.25% on the day while the Nasdaq Composite was erasing 0.2%. Meanwhile, the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, is up only 0.4% on the day, reflecting investors' wait-and-see stance.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the so-called defensive sectors, Utilities and Real Estate, are posting small gains in the early trade while the trade-sensitive Industrials and Energy are both losing around 0.5%.

Earlier today, President Trump took to Twitter to bash China and called their current relationship "crazy" because it was causing them to lose $500 billion a year. "Talks with China continue in a very congenial manner - there is absolutely no need to rush," Trump tweeted out.