US contemplates squeezing flow into China, whipping stocks around

U.S. stocks ended the session mixed on Monday as investors wind down the final full trading day of the week and digest the recent rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly crossed above 27,000 a key psychological level, before settling below with modest gains. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended the session modestly lower.

All-time highs remain within reach for all three indexes. A print above the following levels would be the highest on record:

• S&P 500: 3,027.98
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 27,398.68
• Nasdaq: 8,339.64

Optimism increased over the weekend as the U.S. and China referred to last week's trade talks as "productive" and "constructive." A higher-level round of talks is still scheduled to go ahead in October.

Stocks in focus include Boeing, which announced it will begin paying the families of the Max Jet crash victims $144,500. General Motors, in the middle of a UAW strike, will reportedly furlough 1,200 additional U.S. and Canadain workers.

U.S. markets shrugged off some weaker-than-expected manufacturing data coming out of Europe which sent indices in the region to lower closes.

Looking ahead investors will focus on earnings from Nike and Blackberry on Tuesday.

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The Associated Press and FOX Business' Ken Martin contributed to this article.