U.S. Stocks Drift Higher, Extending Gains
25 June 2019 - 7:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Akane Otani and Paul J. Davies
The S&P 500 inched lower Monday as a dearth of economic data
kept trading activity relatively subdued.
Stocks have rallied in recent weeks and the broad index has
headed toward its best June in decades as central banks in the U.S.
and Europe have talked up further support for stuttering economies.
Still, many analysts remain cautious, warning that any signs that
trade talks between the U.S. and China are faltering could spark
fresh volatility.
President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to
meet at the Group of 20 summit in Japan later this week.
"Everything else is probably secondary" to the trade talks, said
Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Holdings. "If you
can get in and get out of the G-20 without things breaking down,
that's probably the most important thing for the markets."
The S&P 500 gave up small gains from the start of the
session to end down 5.11 points, or 0.2%, to 2945.35. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average rose 8.41 points, or less than 0.1%, to
26727.54, inching closer to its October closing record, while the
Nasdaq Composite lost 26.01 points, or 0.3%, to 8005.70.
Earnings and deal news drove swings among individual stocks
Monday even as major indexes drifted along in a relatively narrow
range.
Caesars Entertainment jumped $1.45, or 15%, to $11.44 after
rival casino operator Eldorado Resorts agreed to acquire it in a
cash-and-stock transaction that will form one of the biggest
gambling companies in the U.S.
Bristol-Myers Squibb fell $3.66, or 7.4%, to $45.68 after it
said it would divest itself of a psoriasis treatment owned by
Celgene in an effort to address regulators' concerns ahead of the
two companies' merger. Celgene shares fell $5.44, or 5.5%, to
$93.47.
Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 edged down 0.3% after the Ifo
business-climate index, a measure of German business sentiment,
fell to 97.4 points in June -- its lowest level since November
2014.
That suggests the country's industrial recession has dragged on
in the second quarter, according to Christina Iacovides, assistant
economist at Capital Economics.
Germany's DAX index was down 0.5%. Shares of car makers also
lost ground after Germany's Daimler warned second-quarter profits
could be hit by expenses related to investigations into vehicles
suspected of manipulating diesel emissions.
Trading in Asia was largely muted, with Japan's Nikkei Stock
Average up 0.1% and the Shanghai Composite edging up 0.2%.
Many global stock indexes remain up double-digit percentages for
the year. Still, UBS analysts warn that an escalation of the
U.S.-China trade conflict could push global stocks down by 20% by
the middle of next year, while 10-year Treasury yields could be
fall as low as 1.3%.
"The simple message is that market prices see the trade war talk
largely as posturing," the analysts said in a note.
Write to Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com and Paul J. Davies
at paul.davies@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 24, 2019 16:47 ET (20:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.