Stocks struggle in early trade

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks were rangebound Tuesday morning as investors played it cautious after the recent run and kept an eye on trade talks between U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Chinese officials.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 7.23 to 13,550.11, Charts) was little changed in the early going after hitting an intraday record in the previous session.

The S&P 500 index (down 0.80 to 1,524.30, Charts) was little changed and remained near its all-time closing high of 1,527.46 hit on March 24, 2000.

The tech-fueled Nasdaq composite (up 1.47 to 2,580.26, Charts) was also little changed after ending the previous session at a new six-year high.

Stock gains petered out by the close Monday as investors backed off after pushing the Dow industrials higher for 7 weeks straight. That hesitation spilled into Tuesday trading.

In corporate news, billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. has offered to buy two properties owned by MGM Mirage: the Bellagio and CityCenter. MGM (up $16.21 to $79.16, Charts, Fortune 500) shares jumped 27 percent.

The U.S. Treasury secretary and a group led by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi are meeting for trade talks, following similar discussions in Beijing at the end of last year.

Topics include the growing trade deficit with China, which hit $235 billion last year, in connection to its undervalued currency, the Yuan.

U.S. light crude oil for June delivery fell 57 cents to $65.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Treasury prices ticked lower, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 4.79 percent from 4.78 percent late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and the yen.