US close: Markets higher at start of busy week

Wall Street finished the first session of a busy week with moderate gains, ahead of a historic meeting between Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un and a policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day up 0.02% at 25,322.31, the S&P 500 added 0.11% to 2,782.00 and the Nasdaq 100 was 0.22% higher at 7,168.48.

“The markets took news that Donald Trump will be leaving Singapore a day early, meaning there's just 11 hours for some kind of nuclear agreement between the US and North Korea to be hashed out, in their stride, the latest red flag planted in the macro-political and economic landscape that investors are keen to ignore,” noted Connor Campbell, financial analyst at SpreadEx.

“While no pre-summit jitters have sunk it just yet, tomorrow could be a completely different story.”

Earlier, North Korean state media confirmed that Jong-un would discuss denuclearisation and a "permanent and durable peace-keeping mechanism" on the Korean peninsula.

“Trump's next meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday will be of interest as the US president looks to score a victory and distract from the country's souring relationship with its Western allies,” said Oanda analyst Craig Erlam.

“Whether the two leaders are actually on the same page in regards to the goals of the meeting could determine just how successful the talks are but Trump in particular will be keen to be seen making progress towards denuclearisation.”

Trump tweeted earlier that it was “great” to be in Singapore and that there was "excitement in the air".

Investors were also looking ahead to a very busy monetary policy week, including announcements from the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank.

The Fed is expected to hike interest rates this week for the second time this year and lay the groundwork for at least one more, maybe even two given the progress made on its inflation goal, while the BoJ is expected to leave them on hold and the ECB is forecast to make an announcement on tapering.

On the corporate front, Envision Healthcare added 2.31% following reports that private equity group KKR was nearing a deal to buy the company for around $5.5bn.

Dow Jones - Risers

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $77.53 2.34%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $253.78 1.93%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $104.35 1.83%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $199.64 1.77%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $44.13 1.59%
General Electric Co. (GE) $13.98 1.45%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $146.58 0.84%
Boeing Co. (BA) $370.94 0.65%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $49.30 0.59%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $130.50 0.56%

Dow Jones - Fallers

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $166.49 -1.76%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $54.52 -0.96%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $84.30 -0.77%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $101.05 -0.57%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $122.66 -0.54%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $36.30 -0.52%
American Express Co. (AXP) $101.20 -0.28%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $191.23 -0.25%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $74.59 -0.23%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $156.30 0.01%

S&P 500 - Risers

Sempra Energy (SRE) $117.20 16.31%
Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) $34.33 10.60%
TEGNA Inc (TGNA) $11.45 8.12%
Apache Corp. (APA) $44.60 6.83%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $38.35 5.94%
J. M. Smucker Co. (SJM) $106.15 5.33%
General Mills Inc. (GIS) $44.42 5.21%
Kellogg Co. (K) $65.45 5.12%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $8.06 5.08%
Ryder System Inc. (R) $71.04 4.89%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Stryker Corp. (SYK) $169.78 -4.70%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $12.86 -4.60%
PG&E Corp. (PCG) $39.76 -4.58%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $32.67 -2.48%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $49.89 -2.46%
Assurant Inc. (AIZ) $95.12 -2.44%
DTE Energy Co. (DTE) $94.70 -2.41%
Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (HST) $21.57 -2.35%
Wyndham Destinations Inc. (WYND) $48.59 -2.31%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $183.71 -2.30%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $332.10 4.55%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $253.20 3.95%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $57.94 3.50%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $297.73 3.09%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $44.16 2.44%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $59.88 2.41%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $269.78 2.35%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $123.62 2.26%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $283.06 2.09%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $21.82 1.68%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $49.89 -2.46%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $183.71 -2.30%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $112.47 -1.51%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $116.70 -1.38%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $148.63 -1.28%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $54.52 -0.96%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $134.08 -0.94%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $89.79 -0.94%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $69.36 -0.93%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $78.33 -0.92%