US stocks struggle to build on overnight strong rebound

Major US equity indices built on previous session's sharp rebound and held with strong gains during the opening hour of trade on Tuesday. 

News reports that both the US and China were willing to renegotiate tariffs and trade imbalances eased fears over a full-blown trade war between the world's two largest economies. This coupled with near-term oversold conditions and high level of pessimism prompted some aggressive short-covering move at the start of a new trading week. 

The momentum from yesterday extended through the early hour of trading on Tuesday but lacked any strong follow through as investors now seemed worried over the likelihood of any possible retaliatory measures from other trading partners. 

On the economic data front, the Conference Board's US Consumer Confidence Index fell to 127.7 in March, retreating from last month’s near 18-year high, and did little to provide any fresh bullish impetus. 

At the time of writing this report, the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded near break-even levels, around 24,209, and the broader S&P 500 Index slipped around 3-points to 2,655. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index continues to be weighed down by the recent slump in the shares of Facebook and fell around 7-points to 7,215.