Stocks mostly ignore latest trade disputes

U.S. equities edged higher and Treasuries declined as investors assessed the latest developments in the varied trade disputes. The dollar fell.

The S&P 500 Index gained for a second day, getting a lift from banking stocks as the 10-year Treasury yield rose toward its highest level of the year, while rate-sensitive utilities weighed. Grocers dropped on a report that said Amazon Inc. is considering opening as many as 3,000 cashierless stores. Shares of Caterpillar Inc. and The Boeing Co. helped push up the Dow Jones Industrial Average after China said it won’t devalue its currency.

The dollar fell against most major currencies after a report said the U.S. and Canada are unlikely to reach a deal on Nafta in Washington this week. Emerging-market equities advanced for the fifth time in six sessions as their currencies strengthened. West Texas crude climbed above $71 a barrel.

“We continue to ignore concerns over escalation of trade. We knew we’d get this latest round and that China would retaliate,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley FBR Inc., said. “Right now it feels like an endless round of one-upsmanship and tit-for-tat retaliation. The market is willing to look at this as a brutal negotiation process and not a mutually destructive trade war just yet.”

While the threat to global growth remains, investors have had months to form a view on the trade war and stock markets have been signaling an improving sentiment of late: A basket of global shares is rising for the seventh time in eight sessions. But that perspective could be in jeopardy if tariffs have a bigger-than-expected impact on the economy. As the week grinds on, Brexit remains a key item on the agenda as the U.K. and European Union battle against the clock for an accord.