After an anemic session the day before, the Dow Jones index gave up 0.04%, the Nasdaq dropped 0.57% and the broader S&P 500 index -0.39% around 14:15 GMT.

The day before, Wall Street had stalled during a numb session, while London remained closed.

The standoff over raising the ability of the United States to borrow is gaining momentum with a summit meeting between President Joe Biden and congressional leaders at 20:00 GMT at the White House.

Since Congress has the prerogative to authorize an increase in sovereign debt, Republicans refuse to do so without drastic spending cuts while Joe Biden, so far, has refused to negotiate.

At stake is a possible default by the United States if after June 1, for lack of being able to borrow yet, the country can no longer honor its financial commitments. The public debt of the world's largest economy amounts to more than 31,000 billion dollars.

"Clearly, the gap is huge between the position of the president and that of the Republicans," acknowledged Janet Yellen, the secretary of the Treasury on Monday while reiterating that a default of the United States, which would be a first in history, would lead to "chaos".

For Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management, "it is unlikely that the meeting" at the White House "will generate major breakthroughs".

"But history suggests that the impasse will lead to an agreement ... and the most likely scenario is that Congress will pass an extension until Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends," the analyst predicted.

Other issues of concern to investors include China's economic outlook.

China's trade balance figures showed a decline in exports and especially a decline in imports in April year-on-year (-7.9%).

"This weakening in April raises the question of the strength of the reopening of the Chinese economy after the easing of Covid-related restrictions," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

The health of US banks remained in the sights of investors while regional institutions such as PacWest (-7% around 14:00 GMT) or Western Alliance (-7.47%) started to decline.

"The banking system is healthy and resilient," Fed Governor Philip Jefferson said Tuesday.

Finally, investors were cautious ahead of Wednesday's release of US inflation (CPI index), which may have been stubborn again in April, due to a rise in energy prices.

Boeing, gained almost 3% after winning an order for 300 new Boeing 737-MAX-10, including 150 firm and 150 optional, for a list price "valued at more than $ 40 billion" from the Irish company Ryan Air.

Rupert Murdoch's media group Fox Corporation climbed 1.43%. Its quarterly results were better than expected, with revenues climbing 18% to $4.08 billion, including +43% for advertising revenue alone.

Data analytics firm Palantir soared 18 percent after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results while management reported "unprecedented demand" for its intelligence that is expected to benefit from artificial intelligence support in the future.

Its quarterly revenue was $525 million (+18%), more than half of which came from government contracts.

Electric vehicle maker Lucid lost 6.60% as sales fell from the previous quarter. Rivian gave up 3.67% and Tesla 2.20%.

© 2023 AFP