GE GE Aerospace

By Ellie Ismailidou and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

Stocks on track for monthly losses, but positive year-to-date

U.S. stocks held on to modest gains Thursday morning, struggling to extend for a third session the rebound from a sharp two-day selloff triggered last week by the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union.

The S&P 500 was up 7 points, or 0.3%, at 2,073, led by a 1.5% rise in consumer-staples stocks. Materials and health-care stocks were the only two sectors in negative territory, both down less than 0.1%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 66 points, or 0.4%, to 17,761, led by a 1.3% jump in General Electric Co.(GE) but weighed by a 1.8% fall in VISA Inc. (V).

The Nasdaq Composite was up 13 points, or 0.3% at 4,791.

The main indexes looked set to book monthly losses but were modestly higher over the quarter and on Wednesday turned positive on a year-to-date basis.

A pullback in crude-oil prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-ease-after-biggest-gain-in-2-months-2016-06-30), which posted Wednesday their biggest gain since early April, weighed on sentiment. But a rebound in the British pound for the third straight session, as well as a reading of initial U.S. jobless claims (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-climb-10000-to-268000-2016-06-30)that showed that the pace of layoffs nationwide remained extremely low, supported risk appetite.

Investors awaited a speech by a key Federal Reserve policy maker, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, while still assessing whether markets have calmed down after the U.K.'s Brexit vote prompted a rout followed by a rebound.

"There's a bit of complacency out there," said Jeff Carbone, managing director at wealth manager Cornerstone Financial Partners.

Even as the U.K.'s FTSE 100 has erased its post-Brexit slide (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-eases-back-after-returning-to-pre-brexit-level-2016-06-30) and U.S. benchmarks logged in the last two sessions their largest two-day jump since February, this doesn't change the fact that the stock market is trading at historically high valuations amid continuing political uncertainty, Carbone said.

"Get ready for continued volatility," he added.

While EU leaders are urging the U.K. to move ahead with the first step in triggering Brexit, the country is in political turmoil after Prime Minister David Cameron said he would resign and leave that move to his successor.

Brexit backer and former London Mayor Boris Johnson said Thursday he won't participate in the race to succeed Cameron, (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/former-london-mayor-boris-johnson-wont-seek-to-replace-british-prime-minister-2016-06-30) confounding widely held expectations.

"It appears that markets have developed into more of a consolidation and there will be fears that this could simply have been an unwinding move that provides another chance to sell," said Richard Perry, market analyst at Hantec Markets, in a note.

From a technical-analysis perspective, "the longer-term trend [for the S&P 500] remains up since February," said to Frank Cappelleri, technical analyst at Instinet, in emailed comments.

But the index "is still searching for direction in the short-term," Cappelleri said. "While the [S&P] has had it chances to break out (and down) multiple times over the last three months, it has yet to thoroughly leverage any apparent support [or] resistance penetrations."

Economic docket: Bullard is set to speak at the Society of Business Economists' annual dinner in London at 3:20 p.m. Eastern Time. Bullard, a voting member this year on the Federal Reserve's rate-setting board, said earlier this month the Fed could hold monetary policy steady (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-can-sit-on-its-hands-as-current-economic-trends-likely-to-persist-bullard-says-2016-06-17) considering the trend of tepid 2% growth, along with a low unemployment rate and subdued inflation.

Meanwhile, a measure of Chicago-area economic activity (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chicago-pmi-surges-in-june-2016-06-30)surged in June on a big advance in the number of purchasing managers, indicating improving production and new orders.

Stocks to watch:Yahoo Inc.(YHOO) inched higher by 0.5% as shareholders held their annual meeting.

Shares of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF) gained 2.4% following an agreement to be purchased by Starz(STRZA)for $4.4 billion in cash and stock (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lions-gate-starz-shares-soar-after-merger-deal-announced-2016-06-30). Starz's shares popped up 10.8%.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(WMT) gained 0.4% after announcing Thursday it's launching Wal-Mart Pay in 11 more states (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wal-mart-launches-walmart-pay-in-more-than-500-stores-2016-06-30), making its mobile pay service available in more than 500 new stores.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI), whose chains include Olive Garden and The Capital Grille, tumbled 4.6% after the company posted a rise in quarterly profit while sales missed expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/darden-profit-rises-while-sales-miss-dividend-increased-12-2016-06-30). Darden did raise its dividend by 12%.

ConAgra Foods Inc.(CAG) shares reversed premarket losses to trade up 0.1% after the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue that missed expectations. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/conagra-foods-shares-slide-after-revenue-miss-2016-06-30)

Liquor and beer maker Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ) gained 2.6% after the company said its earnings and sales rose above expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/constellation-brands-earnings-sales-rise-above-expectations-2016-06-30).

McCormick & Co. Inc.(MKC) gained 2.5% after the company's profits rose (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mccormick-profit-rises-beats-expectations-2016-06-30)as acquisitions and cost-cutting helped boost the spicemaker's sales.

Pier 1 Imports Inc.(PIR) reported a quarterly loss and a decline in sales (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pier-1-imports-joins-in-weak-retail-results-2016-06-29)late Wednesday, sending shares down 9.5%.

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-gains-more-ground-after-eia-reports-41-million-barrel-fall-in-us-crude-supplies-2016-06-29)Tractor Supply Co.(TSCO) shares fell 3.4% after the company's second-quarter forecast fell short of expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tractor-supply-co-warning-sends-stock-sliding-2016-06-29). The farm-equipment supplier also lowered its annual forecast.

Progress Software Corp.(PRGS) shares gained 6.2% following the business software maker's report of better-than-expected second-quarter earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/progress-software-stock-gains-on-sales-boost-2016-06-29).

Other markets: Oil prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-ease-after-biggest-gain-in-2-months-2016-06-30) dropped 2%, trading below $49 a barrel. European stocks slipped after a strong rally on Wednesday.

Asian stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-shares-edge-higher-as-post-brexit-vote-relief-sinks-in-2016-06-30) ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Average edging up 0.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining 1.8%.

Gold futures were off 0.4% at $1,319 an ounce. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index was up less than 0.1%.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 30, 2016 11:03 ET (15:03 GMT)

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