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* U.S. consumer confidence in June rises more than expected
* Boeing tumbles after Norwegian Air cancels orders
* Uber up on report of potential bid for Postmates
* Indexes up: Dow 0.24%, S&P 0.76%, Nasdaq 1.10%
(Adds comments; updates prices)
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Devik Jain
June 30 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes gained
on Tuesday, inching closer to ending their best quarter since
1998 as improving economic data restored faith in a
stimulus-backed rebound for the U.S. economy.
Kicking off a data-heavy week for Wall Street, figures on
Tuesday showed U.S. consumer confidence increased much more than
expected in June. Data on manufacturing activity and employment
are due on Wednesday and Thursday. Still, analysts warned portfolio rebalancing at the end of
the quarter could lead to choppy trading through the session.
"We are finishing up one of the best quarters in history, so
we wouldn't be surprised to see a little bit of window dressing
taking place on the last day," said Sal Bruno, chief investment
officer at IndexIQ in New York.
The benchmark S&P 500 has rebounded nearly 19% since April
on a raft of fiscal and monetary stimulus and the easing of
lockdown restrictions, but is still down about 5% on the year as
a flare-up in virus cases threatened to delay reopenings and
derail a tentative economic recovery.
Simmering U.S.-China tensions also weighed on sentiment,
with Washington beginning to eliminate Hong Kong's special
status under U.S. law in response to China's national security
law for the territory. China said it would retaliate.
All the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading slightly
higher, with real estate .SPLRCR and information technology
.SPLRCT stocks leading gains.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who will testify before
the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee
at 12:30 p.m. ET, said in prepared remarks the outlook for the
world's biggest economy was "extraordinarily uncertain".
At 11:11 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 60.79 points, or 0.24%, at 25,656.59, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 23.34 points, or 0.76%, at 3,076.58, and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 108.17 points, or 1.10%, at 9,982.33.
In company news, Boeing Co BA.N tumbled 5% and was the
biggest drag on the blue-chip Dow after Norwegian Air NWC.OL
canceled orders for 97 aircraft and said it would claim
compensation. Micron Technology Inc MU.O jumped 6.7% as it forecast
higher-than-expected current-quarter revenue on strong demand
for its chips that power notebooks and data centers.
The company's commentary on improving data center demand
also boosted other chipmakers, with the Philadelphia
semiconductor index .SOX up 2.6%. Uber Technologies Inc UBER.N rose 3.8% after reports said
the ride-hailing services company was in talks to buy
food-delivery app Postmates. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners more than 2-to-1 on
the NYSE and 1.83-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 44 new highs and nine new lows.