The Dow decreased 0.01 per cent to 27,781.96, the S&P 500 increased 0.08 per cent to 3,096.63, and the Nasdaq decreased 0.04 per cent to 8,479.02 on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 35.95 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 27,747.64. The S&P 500 lost 1.76 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 3,092.31. The Nasdaq Composite Index went down 13.35 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 8,469.01.
The market has been closely monitoring what the two sides said about trade talks and has been looking for signs of progress.
On the economic front, in the week ending November 9, weekly jobless claims reached 225,000 last week, an increase of 14,000 from previous week's unrevised level, the US Department of Labor said on Thursday.
In corporate news, Cisco issued weaker-than-expected revenue guidance for its fiscal second quarter. Its shares declined more than 7 per cent after the company said it expects 75 cents to 77 cents in Non-GAAP earnings per share, and an annualized revenue decline of 3 per cent to 5 per cent in the fiscal second quarter.
Earlier after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 15.36 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 27,768.23. The S&P 500 lost 3.54 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 3,090.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 20.76 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 8,461.34.
( With inputs from IANS )