S&P 500 ends slightly higher; traders watch US-China trade talks

THE S&P 500 ended slightly higher on Monday, lifted by Amazon and Alphabet, while investors watched US-China negotiations aimed at mending a trade dispute that has rattled financial markets for much of the year.

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Top officials from both countries have kicked off discussions, looking to get back on track with a preliminary trade agreement struck last month that had briefly cooled tensions between the world's largest economies.

Amazon and Google parent Alphabet each gained more than 1% and helped keep the S&P 500 in positive territory.

Amazon.com said it plans to invest at least $20 billion in Pennsylvania to expand data center infrastructure, adding to the billions of dollars the technology giant has committed to the expansion of artificial intelligence.

Apple dipped 1.2% after the iPhone maker kicked off its annual software developer conference with incremental developments that did little to impress investors.