US LNG exports surge but will buyers in China turn up?
Investing.com-- The S&P 500 eked out a gain Monday as the U.S. and China kicked off trade talks on a positive footing, stoking hopes for a resolution to the ongoing trade dispute between the two nations.
At 4:00 p.m. ET (20:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1 points, or 0%, and the S&P 500 index added 0.1%, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 0.3%.
The main averages on Wall Street have continued to gain after ending higher on Friday, fueled by a stronger-than-anticipated U.S. labor market reading for May, although risk appetite was rattled by signs of steadily increasing civil unrest in Los Angeles amid protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Citigroup (NYSE:C) has raised its year-end S&P 500 target to 6300, with the index having closed above 6000 on Friday for the first time since Feb. 21, driven by "a marginally more constructive fundamental view and an expectation for persistency of the current valuation backdrop."
U.S.-China trade talks ’fruitful’
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that talks that meeting with China on Monday in London was fruitful. The comments were echoed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said the U.S. had a good meeting.
Both sides have been at odds over Trump’s threat of elevated tariffs and the supply of rare earth minerals from China, despite a preliminary agreement reached in Geneva last month that included a temporary pause and lowering of punishing tit-for-tat levies. Trump’s so-called "reciprocal" duties on China are now on hold until August 12.
Trade talks are set to continue on Tuesday.
Data released earlier Monday showed that China’s export growth decelerated to a three-month low in May as the country grappled with U.S. tariffs that weighed on shipments.
Key inflation data awaited
The focus this week will be squarely on key consumer price index inflation data, due Wednesday, for more cues on the world’s biggest economy, followed by the producer price index on Friday.
The print is expected to show inflation picking up slightly in May amid higher electricity prices and trade tariffs, with the annual figure seen rising to 2.5% from 2.3% the prior month.
Investors are looking to more U.S. economic readings to gauge the impact of Trump’s policies on growth, especially the uncertainty surrounding trade policies.
Apple falls after uneventful annual developers conference
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 1% after its annual Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday failed to lift sentiment on stock as a lack of significant news to suggests that the iPhone maker is closing in on rivals in the race to AI domination.
“Overall, WWDC laid out the vision for developers buy was void of any major Apple Intelligence progress as Cupertino is playing it safe and close to the vest after the missteps last year,” analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said on Monday.
Elsewhere, entertainment giant Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) announced plans to split into two public companies by next year, while drugmaker Merck (NYSE:MRK) said its drug met the main goal of reducing a type of cholesterol in two late-stage studies.
Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) said it will sell its precision sensors and instrumentation product line to aerospace and defense parts manufacturer Crane (NYSE:CR) for $1.15 billion, as the oilfield services provider looks to optimize its portfolio.
Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) closed marginally higher after the Food and Drug Administration approved Merck’s vaccine aimed at protecting infants from respiratory syncytial virus.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article)