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* Healthcare hit by losses in Celgene, Bristol-Myers
* Banks up on clearing first stage of Fed's stress test
* Caesars jumps as Eldorado Resorts to buy co
* United Technologies up on Cowen upgrade
* Indexes up: Dow 0.19%, S&P 0.10%, Nasdaq 0.04%
(Updates prices, comments)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
June 24 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes edged higher
on Monday, as gains in technology stocks more than offset losses
in healthcare sector, while investors awaited a high-stakes
meeting between U.S. and Chinese leaders at the G20 summit later
this week.
Optimism over a revival in trade talks between the two
largest economies and hopes that the Federal Reserve would cut
interest rates to battle the impact of a trade war on economic
growth helped push the S&P 500 index .SPX to a record high on
Friday.
The benchmark index is up 7.3% so far in June and is on
track to recoup its losses from the previous month.
Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are expected to meet
at the G20 summit on June 28-29 in Japan. Although analysts are
not expecting the two sides to come to a meaningful agreement,
any signs of a de-escalation could boost investor sentiment.
The trade-sensitive industrial sector .SPLRCI edged 0.17%
higher. But the biggest boost to the markets came from the
technology sector .SPLRCT , which rose 0.39%.
"Since the trade war began more than 12 months ago,
economically-sensitive parts of the global equity markets have
underperformed," said Brian Koble, chief investment officer at
Hefren-Tillotson, a wealth management company in Pittsburgh.
"Investors could be well-rewarded should there be progress
toward a trade deal."
Countering the gains, the healthcare sector .SPXHC dropped
0.4%, weighed down by a 5% decline in shares of Celgene Corp
CELG.O and a 7% fall in those of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co
BMY.N .
Bristol-Myers said its planned $74 billion deal to buy
drugmaker Celgene was expected to close at the end of 2019 or
beginning 2020, compared with its earlier expectations of
closing the deal in the third quarter. At 11:07 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 51.73 points, or 0.19%, at 26,770.86 and the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 2.97 points, or 0.10%, at 2,953.43.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 3.38 points, or 0.04%,
at 8,035.09. Capping gains on the tech-heavy index was a 1.5%
decline in the Nasdaq Biotechnology index .NBI .
The financial sector .SPSY rose 0.27% after the 18 largest
banks operating in the United States cleared the first stage of
their yearly health checks with the U.S. Federal Reserve that
assess their ability to weather a major economic downturn.
Shares of casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corp CZR.O
jumped 17% after rival Eldorado Resorts Inc ERI.O said it
agreed to buy the company for $8.5 billion. Shares of Eldorado
fell 9.2%. United Technologies Corp UTX.N gained 1.3% after Cowen &
Co upgraded shares of the building and aerospace supplier to
"outperform" from "market perform".
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.04-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a
1.34-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 26 new 52-week highs and three new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 46 new lows.