Twitter and Tech Stocks Buoy a Flat Stock Market, Despite U.S.-China Trade UncertaintyTwitter had the biggest gain on the Entrepreneur Index™, rising 2.95 percent.

ByAndrew Osterland

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

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Deal or no deal?

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin gave an ambiguous read of the U.S.-China trade talks today as they resume in Beijing this week. He said that "the talks are nearing a point where they would either produce a deal or end with no agreement," according to aNew York Timesreport.

Investors didn't seem phased by the uncertainty. Strong March consumer spending data released this morning confirmed the resilience of the U.S. economy and the stock market continued to rise into uncharted territory. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes were up 0.11 percent and 0.19 percent respectively, breaking above record highs set last week. The Dow index, up 0.04 percent today, remains slightly below its all-time high.

Good gains in thetechnologysector couldn't overcome weakness across many sectors, leaving theEntrepreneur Index™with a small loss of 0.01 percent today.

Twitterhad the biggest gain on the index, rising 2.95 percent.Facebook(1.31 percent) andAdobe Systems Inc.(1.53 percent) were also up nicely.Amazon(-0.6 percent) andNetflix(-0.81 percent) had notable declines.Alphabet Inc., up 1.47 percent, set a new 52-week high today. The stock, however, was down in post-close trading after the company reported financial results.

Teslashares rebounded sharply after dropping to their lowest level in two years last week. Up 2.69 percent today, they are down 27.4 percent this year and hit a 52-week low last Friday. CEOElon Muskand the SEC settled their dispute over Mr. Musk's tweeting habits last week. In a filing with the SEC, the company also suggested it would be looking to raise more capital.

Other good gains on the Entrepreneur Index™ today included conglomerateLoews Corp. (1.49 percent), Fedex Corp. (1.41 percent) andCerner Corp.(1.23 percent).

The REIT sector was generally weak as interest rates ticked up on the strong consumer spending report.Kimco Realty Corp.(-2.75 percent) had the biggest decline on the Entrepreneur Index™.西蒙改过的y Group(-1.6 percent) was also down sharply.

Asset managerFranklin Resourcesfell 2.65 percent today. Despite the fund company beating earnings and revenue estimates on Friday, the stock price has been dropping. The shares are still up 15.2 percent this year.

Other losses on the day included medical products-makerBoston Scientific Corp.(-1.74 percent), pipeline managerKinder Morgan(-1.83 percent) and hospital managerUniversal Health Services(-1.56 percent).

TheEntrepreneur Index™收集s the top 60 publicly traded companies founded and run by entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial spirit is a valuable asset for any business, and this index recognizes its importance, no matter how much a company has grown. These inspirational businesses can be tracked in real time onEntrepreneur.com.

Wavy Line

Andrew Osterland is a contributing writer forCNBC.com. He specializes in capital markets, personal finance and taxes.

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