(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* US factory activity slips for a second month in May, ISM
says
* NYSE Equities investigates technical issue related to LULD
bands
* Nvidia up as next-gen AI chip platform to be rolled out in
2026
* GameStop soars after Keith Gill’s Reddit post shows $116
mln bet
* Indexes: Dow off 0.12%, S&P up 0.22%, Nasdaq up 0.62%
June 3 (Reuters) –
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 inched up on Monday as falling
U.S. Treasury yields boosted megacap growth stocks, while
investors assessed data that showed local manufacturing activity
had eased for the second consecutive month in May.
Megacap stocks including Apple, Meta and
Alphabet gained between 1.1% and 1.7%, as yields on
the benchmark U.S. 10-year and five-year notes fell around 10
basis points each.
AI leader Nvidia rose 3.4%, leading a 0.8% charge
in the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index. Chief
executive Jensen Huang said on Sunday the company’s
next-generation AI chip platform would be rolled out in 2026.
Shares of GameStop soared 26.8% after a weekend
Reddit post from stocks influencer Keith Gill, also known as
“Roaring Kitty,” showed a $116 million bet on the gaming
retailer.
Elsewhere, NYSE Equities said it was
investigating a reported technical
issue that sent dozens of stocks listed on the exchange
into volatility pauses.
Six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors gained, led by a 0.9% rise in
tech, while energy lost 1.7%.
Signaling a cooling economy, a
survey from the Institute for Supply Management
showed manufacturing activity eased to 48.7 in May, lower
than the expectation of 49.6.
Yields began retreating from one-month highs on Friday
as investors increased bets on a September start to
interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve after inflation showed
signs of cooling, as measured by the Personal Consumption
Expenditures Price Index.
However, despite the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq
snapping their five-week winning streaks on Friday, all three of
Wall Street’s main indexes ended May with strong gains.
The S&P 500 rose 4.8%, the Dow climbed 2.3% and the
tech-heavy Nasdaq rose nearly 7% last month, as strong earnings
and hopes of easing monetary policy buoyed Wall Street’s biggest
stocks.
“AI drivers, earnings and inflation will continue to
drive the market,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist
at CFRA Research.
Attention turns to crucial data this week, including
surveys on the manufacturing and services sector, factory orders
and Friday’s closely watched nonfarm payrolls report, which will
provide investors with clues on the health of the U.S. economy
and the Fed’s likely course of action.
“We’re going to be looking at employment data this Friday
and we’re getting a whole slew of economic reports, so inflation
will still be very much foremost in investors’ minds,” Stovall
said.
At 10:14 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
was down 46.63 points, or 0.12%, at 38,639.69, the S&P 500
was up 11.74 points, or 0.22%, at 5,289.25, and the
Nasdaq Composite was up 103.70 points, or 0.62%, at
16,838.71.
The blue-chip Dow underperformed, weighed by a drop in
financial stocks such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase
& Co.
Paramount Global rose 7.1% after a report that
Skydance Media was poised to take over the company.
JetBlue Airways
forecast a smaller drop
in second-quarter revenue than previously forecast due to
healthy travel demand, sending its shares up
4.7
%.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.34-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE
and
by a 1.38-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq
.
The S&P index recorded
18
new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq
recorded
39
new highs and
46
new lows.
(Reporting by Lisa Mattackal and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru;
Editing by Pooja Desai)
