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1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end mildly higher amid mixed data

Xinhua, June 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks posted modest gains to kick off June's trading on Monday, as investors assessed a batch of mixed economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 29.69 points, or 0.16 percent, to 18,040.37. The S&P 500 rose 4.34 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,111.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 12.90 points, or 0.25 percent, to 5,082.93.

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 still remained cautious in spending even as income 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.

Separate data from the department showed that construction spending increased 2.2 percent in April, well above market expectations of 0.7 percent.

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

European equities closed mixed amid the uncertainty of Greece on Monday, with British benchmark FTSE 100 Index decreasing 0.44 percent.

In Asia, Chinese shares, which witnessed big swings last week, soared on Monday following positive data on China's manufacturing activities in May, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surging 4.71 percent.

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

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. Endite