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U.S. stocks little changed at midday amid mixed data

Xinhua, June 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks traded slightly higher around midday after wavering between gains and losses in early trading on Monday, as investors meditated on mixed economic data.

At noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 3.83 points, or 0.02 percent, to 18,014.51. The S&P 500 edged up 0.24 point, or 0. 01 percent, to 2,107.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.75 points, or 0.03 percent, to 5,071.78.

U.S. economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in May for the 29th consecutive month. The May manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) registered 52.8 percent, an increase of 1.3 percentage points over the April reading of 51.5 percent, beating market consensus, said the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Monday.

"As the best leading indicator of the ISM, the recovery in new orders over the past two months should provide relief that the worst is over as far as the negative impact of dollar strength and energy price declines on the manufacturing side of the economy," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

U.S. consumers continued to save even as incomes increased. According to a report released by the U.S. Commerce Department on Monday, personal spending was flat in April after rising an upwardly revised 0.5 percent in March, while personal income increased 0.4 percent in April after being flat in March.

Greece remains in focus as it faces a June 5 deadline for a payment to the International Monetary Fund.

Meanwhile, investors were still digesting the second reading on first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP).

The U.S. Commerce Department announced Friday that the second estimate of real GDP decreased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2015, in contrast to the initial estimate of a 0.2 percent expansion announced last month.

U.S. stocks declined on Friday in volatile trading as U.S. GDP data came out negative. Endite