After early stumble, U.S. stock indexes end modestly higher
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The stock market shook off a bumpy start and ended modestly higher Friday, led by gains in consumer products companies like Monster Beverage and Procter & Gamble.
Health care companies also rose. Energy companies slipped along with the price of oil.
Trading has been muted ahead of the Group of Seven summit in Quebec, which began Friday. The meeting is expected to be tense as other leaders confront President Donald Trump over his protectionist trade policies.
Consumer products companies, which have been out of favor the past few months, rose for the second day in a row. Overall, major indexes were mostly higher after posting small losses the day before.
The G-7 meeting was set to be unusually contentious, as leaders of France and Canada in particular have expressed in tough terms their disapproval of the tariffs President Donald Trump recently imposed on steel and aluminum imports. Mr. Trump is expected to leave the summit on Saturday before it officially concludes as he heads to Singapore ahead of his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trade tensions have been rattling markets for the past three months, and the G-7 summit isn’t expected to deliver much relief. That said, there couldbe a silver lining to the ongoing talksbetween the U.S. and its trading partners over the highly unpopular U.S. tariffs, according to Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist for the WellsFargo Investment Institute.
“The end result probably is going to be lower tariffs across the board,” Mr. Wren said. He added that ultimatelya large number of older tariffs that are currently levied on U.S. imports and exports could be reduced oreliminated.
The S&P 500 index added 8.66 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,779.03. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 75.12 points, or 0.3 percent, to 25,316.53. The Nasdaq composite gained 10.44 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,645.51.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks rose 4.72 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,672.49. Smaller and more U.S.-focused stocks have fared better than the rest of the market in recent months as investors worry that trade frictions AK Steel 4.62 Alcoa 47.64 American Eagle 22.56 Ansys 165.80 Ameriserv 4.30 Ampco 10.35 Arconic 17.75 Allegheny Technologies 28.76 Black Box 2.45 BNY Mellon 55.35 Citizens Financial Group 41.63 Comcast 31.26 Consol Energy 16.16 Dominion Resources 63.36 Dick’s Sporting Goods 35.35 Emerson Electric 71.37 EQT 51.91 Eaton 76.90 Evoqua 18.95 ExOne 6.64 First Commonwealth 15.86 FedEx 253.60 FirstEnergy 34.20 Federated Investors 24.39 F.N.B. 13.44 LB Foster 23.75 GNC 3.19 FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE STOCK LISTINGS, VISIT POST-GAZETTE.COM/BUSINESSNEWS could impact large multinational companies. The Russell is on a six-week winning streak.
Wall Street appeared to get ever so slightly less worried about the trade situation this week.
The Dow has taken a bigger hit from the trade disputes than other U.S. indexes, but this week was its best in three months. The Nasdaq and Russell 2000 reached all-time highson Wednesday.
Among consumer products makers, Monster Beverage climbed 5 percent to $55.48 after its annual shareholder meeting. Stifel analyst Mark Astrachan said the company’s sales growth is solid. He said the company plans to raise its U.S. prices later this year in response to higher aluminumprices.
Tide maker Procter & Gamble gained 1.9 percent to $77.18. Cigarette maker Philip Morris International rose 2.6 percent to $79.42 after it raised its quarterly dividend, while Reuters said the company plans to start selling its tobacco-heating Iqos devicein India.
U.S. crude slid 0.3 percent to $65.74 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 0.6 percent to $76.82 per barrel in London.