US: Stocks end quiet session mostly lower

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks finished a quiet session mostly lower on Monday ahead of a heavily-anticipated US-China meeting at the Group of 20 summit later this week.

Analysts described investors as cautious in light of the G-20 talks and the escalating tensions between the United States and Iran. Washington also imposed new sanctions Monday on Iran.

"Everyone is waiting for the G-20 meeting on Friday, even if we don't expect a lot out of it," said Bill Lynch, director of investment at Hinsdale Associates.

"At least the hope is for no new escalation of tensions."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up less than 0.1 per cent at 26,727.54.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.2 per cent to 2,945.36, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 0.3 per cent to 8,005.70.

Key data releases this week include reports on consumer confidence, GDP growth and personal income and spending.

After tumbling in May, US stocks have risen in June as the Federal Reserve has adopted a dovish line on monetary policy.

Caesars Entertainment shot up 14.5 per cent after agreeing to be acquired by Eldorado Resorts for about US$17.3 billion. Eldorado fell 10.6 per cent.

Celgene dropped 5.5 per cent and Bristol-Myers 7.4 per cent after the latter announced it planned to divest psoriasis treatment Otezla to win regulatory approval of their proposed merger.

Bristol-Myers also pushed back the time-frame for closing the deal to the end of 2019 or early 2020 from the third quarter of this year.

AFP