US STOCKS-U.S. stocks gain as signs of recovery offset protests, economic worries

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* U.S. factory activity eases off an 11-year low in May
* Target, Walmart shut stores as U.S. protests turn violent
* Coty rises after appointing Chairman Peter Harf as CEO
* Indexes up: Dow 0.35%, S&P 0.48%, Nasdaq 0.73%

(Updates to late afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks posted
modest gains on Monday as signs suggesting the U.S. economy may
be on the road to recovery helped soothe jitters over
increasingly violent social unrest and rising U.S.-China
tensions.
All three major stock indexes began the month less than 1%
higher following a strong rally in May.
Market leaders Apple Inc AAPL.O , Amazon.com AMZN.O and
Facebook Inc FB.O provided the biggest lift to the S&P 500 and
the Nasdaq, while Boeing Co BA.N provided the blue-chip Dow
with its biggest boost.
"What's really giving people hope are the moves by the
central banks, especially the Fed, that prop up the economy and
the market," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at
SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York. "That seems to be the overall
theme."
The White House called for "law and order" as U.S. cities
were looted and smoldering after six nights of widespread,
violent demonstrations triggered by the death of George Floyd at
the hands of police. "We have seen some headway was far as the coronavirus is
concerned and the economy is slowly reopening," Pavlik added.
"But the protests and violence associated with them creates
another underlying concern."
The unrest has prompted retailers such as Target Corp
TGT.N and Walmart Inc WMT.N to shutter a portion of their
stores, while Amazon.com AMZN.O has scaled back deliveries.
Further weighing on sentiment, China has ordered state-owned
firms to halt purchases of U.S. soybeans and pork, in
retaliation for President Donald Trump's announcement that he
would end special treatment for Hong Kong following China's move
to tighten security measures in the territory. But economic data gave a boost to investor sentiment, with
the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) purchasing managers'
index (PMI) showing the contraction of factory activity was
slowing, and a decline in construction spending was not as steep
as economists feared. A fuller picture of the economic damage wrought by
pandemic-related lockdowns is expected on Friday, when the Labor
Department's jobs report is seen showing a drop of 8 million
jobs and an unemployment rate sky-rocketing to 19.7%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 90.76 points,
or 0.36%, to 25,473.87, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 14.5 points,
or 0.48%, to 3,058.81 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
69.73 points, or 0.73%, to 9,559.60.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, all but healthcare
.SPXHC were in positive territory.
Pfizer Inc PFE.N dropped 7.0% after the drugmaker's breast
cancer treatment was deemed unlikely to meet the main goal of a
late-stage study. Biotech firms CTI Biopharma Corp CTIC.O and Proteostasis
Therapeutics Inc PTI.O were up 10.8% and 10.7%, respectively,
after their potential COVID-19 treatments showed promise.
Meanwhile, rival Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O dipped 2.7%
following mixed results in a late-stage study of its COVID-19
drug candidate, remdesivir. Coty Inc COTY.N jumped 17.5% after the appointment of
Chairman Peter Harf as its new chief executive officer.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
3.95-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.41-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 89 new highs and eight new lows.