*
Biden meets lawmakers on Tuesday on debt ceiling
*
Empire State manufacturing data disappoints
*
Fed's Bostic warns not to expect rate cuts this year
(Updates prices; WTI, Brent settlement)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks struggled for
gains with tech shares putting the Nasdaq out front on Monday,
and benchmark Treasury yields rose amid wavering optimism over a
debt ceiling deal from Washington.
None of the three major U.S. stock indexes showed much
conviction due to the wind-down of first-quarter earnings season
and a lack of market-moving catalysts, aside from a
disappointing Empire State manufacturing report from the New
York Federal Reserve.
But surging semiconductor shares gave the tech-heavy
Nasdaq a comfortable lead.
Market participants had little to focus on, outside of
partisan wrangling on Capitol Hill as President Joe Biden and
congressional Republicans square off over a debt limit deal.
"It feels like there's some optimism regarding talks on the
debt ceiling," said Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at
NovaPoint in Atlanta. "Part of that may be political
gamesmanship, but it's helping the market a little bit today."
"You have a split government and those tend to be more
'stand-off' negotiations," Sroka added. "It's getting hyped up a
little more than usual."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.61 points, or 0.02%, to 33,293.01, the S&P 500 gained 6.63 points, or 0.16%, to 4,130.71 and the Nasdaq Composite added 65.93 points, or 0.54%, to 12,350.68. European stocks ended the session higher as investors eyed ongoing U.S. debt ceiling negotiations and Turkey's impending election runoff. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.25% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.33%. Emerging market stocks rose 0.53%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.84% higher, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.81%. Longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields rose due to lingering worries over slow-cooling inflation even after Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he would vote to hold interest rates steady if the Fed's monetary policy meeting were held today. Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 11/32 in price to yield 3.5037%, from 3.463% late on Friday. The 30-year bond last fell 35/32 in price to yield 3.8401%, from 3.777% late on Friday.
The greenback backed down against a basket of world currencies after touching a five-week high, consolidating gains amid debt limit wrangling and weaker-than-expected Empire State factory data. The dollar index fell 0.25%, with the euro up 0.24% to $1.0874. The Japanese yen weakened 0.24% versus the greenback at 136.07 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at $1.2526, up 0.55% on the day. Oil prices rose as concerns over tightening supplies were exacerbated by wildfires in Alberta, Canada, but gains were limited by worries of weakening demand. U.S. crude rose 1.53% to settle at $71.11 per barrel, while Brent settled at $75.23 per barrel, up 1.43% on the day. U.S. crude rose 1.53% to settle at $71.11 per barrel, while Brent was last at $ 75.29 ,
up 1.51% on the day.
Gold edged higher in opposition to the weakening dollar as
the debt ceiling standoff wore on, and investors clung to hopes
of interest rate cuts by year-end, despite comments from Fed
officials.
Spot gold added 0.3% to $2,016.33 an ounce.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Nell
Mackenzie in London; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Cynthia
Osterman)
