Wall Street closes with modest gains, dollar weakens as trade tensions flare
Wall Street ended a choppy session higher on Monday and the dollar softened as trade tensions between Washington and Beijing heated up and investors showed caution ahead of U.S. employment data and a widely expected policy rate cut from the European Central Bank.
The S&P 500 notched a modest advance, while tech, boosted the Nasdaq to a more substantial gain. The blue-chip Dow ended the session barely in positive territory.
The greenback, under pressure amid revived trade strife, weakened as benchmark U.S. Treasury yields ticked higher.
Souring risk appetite boosted gold to more than a three-week high against the weakening greenback.
On Sunday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Donald Trump would speak soon with Chinese President Xi Jinping to iron out tensions over a mutually agreed-upon rollback of tariffs on critical minerals after Trump accused Beijing of violating that agreement.
Beijing called Trump's accusation "groundless," and vowed to take forceful measures to protect its interests.
A report from the Institute for Supply Management showed the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted at a steeper-than-expected pace in May, while construction expenditures defied consensus by falling in April.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), rose 35.41 points, or 0.08%, to 42,305.48, the S&P 500 (.SPX), rose 24.25 points, or 0.41%, to 5,935.94 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), rose 128.85 points, or 0.67%, to 19,242.61.
Source : Reuters
