US close: Stocks rise as investors watch for debt ceiling progress

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.14% higher at 33,348.60, while the S&P 500 ended the session up 0.3% at 4,136.28, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.66% to finish at 12,365.21.

Monday’s gains reflected investor optimism despite contrasting messages from Washington regarding the debt ceiling discussions.

President Joe Biden expressed optimism about the talks on Sunday, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Monday that the White House and congressional Republicans were still "far apart".

In currency markets, the dollar was last 0.03% stronger on sterling at 79.84p, while it held steady against the euro, remaining at 91.96 euro cents.

It dipped marginally against the Japanese yen, by 0.02%, to last change hands at JPY 136.09.

“An absolute stinker of an Empire State manufacturing survey for May, just before the open, prompted [pre-market] gains to slowly disappear,” said CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson earlier.

“After seeing a modest rebound in April to 10.8, it had been forecast that we might see a modest decline to -4, and while the survey did show a decline, it was an even bigger -31.8, prompting US markets to open broadly mixed.”

Manufacturing in NY area sees May downturn

In economic news, manufacturing activity in New York and surrounding areas experienced a significant downturn in May, according to a survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The regional factory index, closely monitored by economists and investors, plummeted from 10.8 in April to a disappointing -31.8 in May, a far cry from the predicted consensus of -4.0.

In particular, new orders for businesses, a vital indicator of future activity, took a severe hit.

The corresponding subindex crashed from a robust 25.1 in April to a stark -28.0 in May, signalling a sharp contraction in demand.

However, the survey also revealed that prices paid by firms saw a slight increase, with the subindex nudging up from 33.0 to 34.9, suggesting rising input costs for manufacturers.

On a somewhat positive note, the employment situation in the sector showed signs of improvement.

The hiring subindex saw a moderate increase, improving from -8.0 in April to -3.3 in May, indicating a lessening contraction in employment within the sector.

Kieran Clancy at Pantheon Macroeconomics described the survey results as "more noise than signal, but still not good".

May's reading more than reversed the previous month's surprise spike, which wasn't reflected in other regional Fed surveys, he said.

But what most caught his eye was the "alarming" slump in the subindex for capital spending intentions by almost 16 points to 0.9.

“Hopes for a sustained recovery in manufacturing rest on the pull to global industry from China’s post-Covid recovery, given the intense pressure on the domestic economy from the Fed’s actions and now the banking crisis,” Clancy said.

“For now, US manufacturing appears to be on its own, and struggling.”

Sarepta Therapeutics surges, Oneok falls on Magellan Midstream acquisition

On New York’s equity markets, Sarepta Therapeutics advanced 30.77% after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave tentative approval of its therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

NRG Energy also saw an uptick, gaining 3.02% after activist investor Elliot Management revealed a $1bn stake in the company.

Alongside the disclosure, Elliot called for a strategic review of NRG's Vivint unit.

Newmont Corporation rose 2.5% after it announced a more-than-$17bn deal to acquire ASX-listed Australian gold miner Newcrest Mining.

On the downside, Oneok shares slid 9.06% after the natural gas service provider announced an almost $19.9bn cash-and-shares deal to acquire Magellan Midstream Partners, although Magellan Midstream itself spiked 12.99%.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE +47.98 (+0.14%) 33,348.60

RISERS
Intel Corporation +2.94% $29.80
American Express +1.4% $150.00
Walgreens Boots Alliance +1.39% $31.50
Boeing Company +1.03% $202.77
Walt Disney Co +0.95% $92.86
JPMorgan Chase & Co +0.84% $135.23
Caterpillar +0.84% $211.29
Cisco Systems +0.84% $47.10
Goldman Sachs Group +0.8% $322.07
Salesforce Inc +0.75% $203.33

FALLERS
Verizon Communications -2.18% $36.77
UnitedHealth Group -0.89% $486.86
Walmart -0.78% $151.88
Johnson & Johnson -0.77% $159.55
Home Depot -0.66% $288.54
Merck & Co -0.66% $116.37
Nike Inc -0.32% $119.83
Apple Inc -0.29% $172.07
Coca-Cola Company -0.27% $63.94
Dow Inc -0.1% $52.26

S&P 500 +12.20 (+0.3%) 4,136.28

RISERS
Western Digital Corporation +11.26% $36.75
Zions Bancorporation +8.47% $24.33
Comerica +7.29% $34.30
KeyCorp +6.67% $9.59
Dish Network Corporation +6.66% $6.57
Micron Technology +6.11% $64.64
Seagate Technology Holdings +6.06% $61.06
Paramount Global +5.26% $15.81
Match Group +5.12% $32.44
EQT Corporation +5.05% $10.31

FALLERS
Oneok Inc -9.06% $57.95
First Solar -4.36% $221.59
Tractor Supply Co -3.5% $231.53
Ameren Corporation -3.03% $85.06
Insulet Corporation -2.86% $320.79
American Tower Corporation -2.41% $195.46
Crown Castle -2.39% $113.90
Exelon Corporation -2.37% $40.76
Arch Capital Group -2.34% $75.10
Interpublic Group of Companies -2.23% $35.95

NASDAQ COMPOSITE +80.47 (+0.66%) 12,365.21

RISERS
Atlassian Corporation +7.66% $145.36
JD.com Inc +6.71% $37.67
Baidu Inc +6.28% $127.61
Micron Technology +6.11% $64.64
Zscaler +5.67% $120.81
NetEase +5.52% $89.88
Match Group +5.12% $32.44
Marvell Technology +4.86% $42.07
Lam Research Corporation +4.78% $552.27
Splunk Inc +4.61% $88.75

FALLERS
Palo Alto Networks -3.16% $193.00
Exelon Corporation -2.37% $40.76
Illumina -1.8% $204.85
O’Reilly Automotive -1.75% $945.28
Dexcom -1.72% $119.61
American Electric Power Company -1.71% $90.09
Xcel Energy -1.42% $67.91
Kraft Heinz Co -1.21% $40.17
Netflix Inc -1.78% $335.89
Cintas Corporation -1.12% $469.06