By Wallace Witkowski, MarketWatch , Ryan Vlastelica
Monday's equity trading has been marked by lighter-than-usual
volume
U.S. stocks on Monday tried to claw back from last week's sharp
loss, as Wall Street's long-term uptrend appeared mostly intact,
albeit, on weaker-than-average volume.
More pronounced gains from near-record levels, however, may be
hard to achieve amid continued White House uncertainty.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 89 points, or 0.4%, to
20,895, led higher by more than 1% gains in Cisco Systems
Inc.(CSCO), Boeing Co.(BA) and 3M Co.(MMM)
The S&P 500 index rose 11 points to 2,392, a gain of 0.5%.
The day's gains were broad-based, with 10 of the 11 primary S&P
500 sectors rising on the day. The industrials sector rose 0.6% as
defense stocks advanced on an arms deal with Saudi Arabia, bested
only by tech, up 0.8%, and utilities, up 0.9%.
The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 39 points, or 0.6%, at
6,122.
All three benchmarks are coming off a weekly decline, but are on
track to advance for three straight positive trading sessions since
the market's sharpest decline in months last Wednesday.
With the bulk of earnings season over, investors will scrutinize
U.S. political news, like the one last week that triggered a sharp
midweek plunge for stocks
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-slide-as-concerns-over-trump-grow-2017-05-17).
President Donald Trump traveled to the Middle East
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-urges-muslims-to-fight-crisis-of-extremism-in-saudi-speech-2017-05-21)
this weekend and delivered a speech with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
Read:In the battle for control of the stock market, bulls may
have an edge
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-market-set-for-showdown-between-bulls-and-bears-2017-05-20)
That midweek dip was driven by reports that Trump asked
then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey to stop
an investigation
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-denies-asking-comey-to-drop-flynn-investigation-2017-05-18)
into Russian meddling
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/white-house-official-probed-over-russia-and-president-called-comey-nut-job-reports-say-2017-05-19)
into the U.S. election. And it has sown doubt that Trump will be
able to push through a pro-economic-growth agenda seen as driving
recent gains for stocks.
It isn't taking much to push around stocks Monday with volumes
being extremely low, said Sahak Manuelian, managing director of
equity trading, in an interview.
"Volumes are terrible across the board," Manuelian said. "I
think there's just a lack of market participation within this
rally."
At last check, composite volume on the New York Stock Exchange
was just over 1.67 billion shares, and about 956 million shares on
the Nasdaq, with less than three hours of trading left in the
session. Average daily trading volume for the year to date has been
3.53 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.86 billion shares on the
Nasdaq, according to Dow Jones data.
Investors will this week try to whether that selloff was
temporary or a "signal of something more sinister," said Michael
Stanes, investment director at Heartwood Investment Management, in
a note Monday.
Read:This chart shows how stocks aren't breaking down--but not
breaking out, either
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-chart-shows-how-stocks-arent-breaking-down-but-not-breaking-out-either-2017-05-22)
He argued, though, that gains for stocks after the presidential
election are also due to improved global economic conditions and
fading disinflationary effects that started in summer 2016. The
fundamental backdrop hasn't changed, with the U.S. economy still on
a solid footing and other global economies steady, said Stanes.
"We recognize that we are in the latter part of the market cycle
and sentiment is likely to remain vulnerable to pressure points as
we move through the year," he said.
Read:White House to roll out budget proposal, cutting Medicaid,
assistance to the poor
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/white-house-to-roll-out-budget-proposal-cutting-medicaid-assistance-to-the-poor-2017-05-22)
Fed speakers ahead: On a quiet day for data, the Chicago
national activity index was at a three-year high
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chicago-feds-national-economic-measure-at-multimonth-high-with-housing-its-only-drag-2017-05-22)
of 0.49 in April, compared with 0.07 in March.
Read:Buoyant U.S. economy rides out rough political sea, but
more storms ahead
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/buoyant-us-economy-rides-out-rough-political-sea-but-more-storms-ahead-2017-05-21)
Two Fed speakers are lined up to speak after the market closes
on Monday. Fed Gov. Lael Brainard speaks on "the roles of
opportunity and inclusion in strengthening the U.S. economy" in
Minneapolis at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Then Chicago Fed President
Charles Evans gives a speech on the economy at an OTC derivatives
conference in Shanghai, China, at 9:10 p.m. Eastern.
Stock movers: Shares of Huntsman Corp.(HUN) fell 0.7%, reversing
an earlier advance that came on news it will merge with
Switzerland's Clariant AG (CLN.EB), creating a chemicals giant
worth about $14 billion. Under terms of the deal announced Monday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/huntsman-clariant-to-combine-into-20-bln-company-2017-05-22),
Clariant shareholders will own 52% of the new entity and Huntsman
will own the rest.
Ford Motor Co.(F) shares were up 1.9% on news the auto maker
plans to replace Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields with Jim
Hackett
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ford-to-replace-ceo-mark-fields-with-jim-hackett-amid-pressure-on-profit-2017-05-22),
a Ford executive who leads a unit that works on autonomous
cars.
Companies in the defense sector rose after Saudi Arabia and
other Gulf states signed arms deals worth $350 billion
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/defense-stocks-rise-across-the-board-premarket-after-trump-signs-350-billion-of-arms-deals-2017-05-22)
with the U.S. over the weekend. Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) rose
1.3% while Raytheon Corp. (RTN) added 0.3%. The iShares U.S.
Aerospace & Defense ETF(ITA) rose 1%.
Other markets: Asian stocks were largely higher, outside of a
0.4% dip for the Shanghai . In Europe, stocks finished lower with
the Stoxx Europe 600 index down 0.1%.
Read:Miners, oil share lead the FTSE 100 higher
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/miners-oil-shares-lead-the-ftse-100-higher-2017-05-22)
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/miners-oil-shares-lead-the-ftse-100-higher-2017-05-22)The
dollar erased some gains from earlier, specifically against the
euro after German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly said because
of European Central Bank policies, the weaker euro has made German
products cheaper
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pound-declines-after-shift-in-uk-election-polls-euro-climbs-2017-05-22).
Read: This is the 'bad' kind of dollar weakness
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-the-bad-kind-of-dollar-weakness-2017-05-22)
Gold prices made modest gains
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-keeps-rally-going-as-dollar-eases-stocks-churn-2017-05-22).
West Texas Intermediate oil prices were climbing ahead of a meeting
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-climb-as-investors-wait-for-opec-meeting-2017-05-22)
later this week of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries.
Read:4 potential outcomes for OPEC's crucial meeting
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/4-potential-outcomes-for-opecs-crucial-meeting-2017-05-19)
--Barbara Kollmeyer in Madrid contributed to this article
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 22, 2017 14:03 ET (18:03 GMT)
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