(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday, led by industrial companies, as the United States and China began their latest round of trade talks to hammer out a deal before the looming March deadline.
China struck an upbeat note on the talks, while White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway also expressed confidence of a possible deal. Boeing Inc, the largest U.S. exporter to China, and Caterpillar Inc both gained 1 percent and pushed the trade-sensitive industrial sector 0.71 percent higher.
"These trade talks are being viewed as a positive," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.