U.S. Equities Little Changed as VIX Drops, Defensive Shares Lead

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks edged higher, extending gains to a fourth session, as European data signaled strength in the region’s ongoing economic recovery.

The S&P 500 added less than 0.1 percent to 2,394.4 at 9:50 a.m. in New York. The benchmark advanced on Monday as oil rose and President Donald Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia netted deals that lifted industrial shares.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 16 points to 20,906 on Tuesday.

• Utility, health-care and staples shares lead in early trading, up at least 0.3%
• Discretionary and financial shares lagging
• S&P 500 volume 24% below 30-day average
• VIX down to 10.9
• Prime Minister Theresa May vowed to combat the “ideology” behind Britain’s worst terrorist attack in 12 years after a suicide bombing killed 22 people at a pop concert. Islamic State claimed responsibility.
• POLITICS:
  • President Trump’s budget proposal, to be released Tuesday, claims to balance the budget within a decade
  • Would dramatically reduce the U.S. government’s role in society with $3.6 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years in a budget plan that shrinks the safety net for the poor, recent college graduates and farmers
  • Traders are also assessing Trump on his first foreign trip as president. The next stop on his tour will be the Group of Seven and NATO meetings in Europe.
• ECONOMY:
  • U.S. May flash manufacturing PMI 52.5; est. 53.0
  • Index falls to 52.5 from 52.8 in April; year ago 50.7; lowest reading since Sept. 2016
• EARNINGS:
  • After-market Tuesday: Inuit (INTU)
  • Pre-market Wednesday: Tiffany (TIF), Advance Auto Parts (AAP), Lowe’s (LOW)

For more equity market news:

• Stock Enthusiasm Is a Lot More Bridled Than VIX at 11 Signals
• Low Stock Volatility Is Not a Signal to Sell, BlackRock Says
• Byron Wien Sees Positive Market Reaction If Trump Ever Impeached

To contact the reporter on this story: Oliver Renick in New York at orenick2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chris Nagi at chrisnagi@bloomberg.net, Brad Olesen