The US markets ended modestly higher on Monday.
The major averages jumped back and forth along the unchanged line as traders looked to cash in on last week's rally, which lifted the major averages to their best closing levels in over two months owed to US-China trade deal.
Besides, Moody's downgrading the US debt rating by a notch to Aa1 from Aaa weighed on the investors sentiments.
Moody's said the downgrade reflects the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.
Meanwhile, traders also remained cautious after the Conference Board released a report showing its reading on leading U.S.
economic indicators slumped by more than expected in the month of April.
The report said the leading economic index tumbled by 1.0 percent in April after sliding by a downwardly revised 0.8 percent in March, while the street had expected the leading economic index to decrease by 0.8 percent compared to the 0.7 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.
However, selling pressure waned over the course of the session as market participants seem to remain generally optimistic about the outlook for the markets.On sectoral front, Gold stocks saw substantial strength on the day, as the price of the precious metal surged in reaction to Moody's downgrade of the U.S.
debt rating.
Reflecting the strength in the sector, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index jumped by 2.2 percent.
Moreover, biotechnology, healthcare and brokerage stocks also saw some strength, while energy stocks moved to the downside despite an increase by the price of crude oil.Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 137.33 points or 0.32 percent at 42,792.07, S&P 500 inched up 5.22 points or 0.09 percent to 5,963.60 and Nasdaq crept up 4.36 points or 0.02 percent to 19,215.46.