The only expectation of everyone on the "phase one" signing of the trade deal is to prevent President Trump from imposing new tariffs on Chinese goods on Dec. 15.
However, negotiators are said to be working on a plan to also roll back existing tariffs.
This talk made the Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its rally on Nov. 5 as investors became optimistic.
However, bullishness appeared to somewhat fade when reports came out that China wants a firmer commitment on removing tariffs.
The blue-chip index rose 81 points or 0.3%.
The gains gained momentum in the afternoon as shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance drastically increased because of a report that the company had talked with private equity firms about going private.
Likewise, the Nasdaq Composite went up 0.1%, while the S&P 500 went down less than 0.1%.
All three indexes closed at records on Nov. 4, Monday, because of the high hopes on trade coupled with a better-than-expected corporate earnings season.
Michael Antonelli, a market strategist at Baird, said that after this breakout, the stock market is pausing and digesting the news that the trade concerns are fading.
Though the service-sector data was better than expected, the S&P 500 went down minutes after the release of the data.
Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, said the drop could be a sign that after a period of economic uncertainty, when the market just responded positively to signs of strength, investors are thinking that the Federal Reserve might be less likely to cut interest rates.
The central bank cut interest rates last week for the third time in 2019.
A sign that a trade downturn that began last year is accelerating is when the Commerce Department said that the US trade deficit narrowed in September because both imports and exports declined.
Still, major U.S. stock indexes have also been pushed higher recently by the better-than-feared corporate earnings.
Although profits are to decline for a third consecutive quarter, FactSet said more than three-quarters of the companies in the S&P 500 have beaten expectations.
Shares of software company Adobe rose 3.7% after the company, on late Monday, raised its fourth-quarter revenue target.
Hertz Global Holdings, the car-rental, rose 12% after it posted a higher third-quarter profit.
Likewise, Chinese stocks on the US exchanges received a boost as well.
JD.com, an e-commerce company and retail infrastructure service provider, had
gained 58.24% year to date (YTD).
JD.com's stock is at 31.68% on the year as of Nov. 5, 2019.
NetEase, Inc., a company that operates an interactive online community, saw its stock increase to 31.68% on the year.
Baidu Inc., specializing in internet-related services and artificial intelligence (AI) in China and globally, though having been exposed to technology-related trade deal developments, has its stock slump to almost 31% year to date.
However, its earning per share (EPS) is growing at 43% to $6.47.
