US STOCKS-Wall St gains as recovery hopes overshadow U.S. protests

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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 0.23%, S&P 0.34%, Nasdaq 0.61%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
June 1 (Reuters) - Wall Street's major indexes rose on
Monday as investors chose to look past violent protests across
the country over racial inequality and focused more on economic
data that bolstered views of a quick post-pandemic recovery.
U.S. manufacturing activity eased off an 11-year low in May,
an Institute for Supply Management (ISM) survey showed, the
strongest sign yet that the worst of the economic downturn was
behind as businesses reopen. That helped financial stocks .SPSY , which tend to perform
better when the outlook for the economy improves, power ahead,
providing the biggest boost to the S&P 500 .SPX .
The benchmark index's 38% rebound since late March has been
underpinned by trillions of dollars in stimulus and hopes that
the global economy will rebound from the coronavirus-led
downturn as countries start to ease lockdowns.
"The data is showing a pickup in demand which is a key
driver for markets going forward," said Anik Sen, global head of
equities, PineBridge Investments.
"The market is reacting somewhat to the rioting and U.S. and
China tensions, but it's only at the margin."
National Guard troops were deployed over the weekend in 15
states and Washington, D.C. in an attempt to quell a sixth night
of violence that began with peaceful protests over the death of
a black man, George Floyd, in police custody. Target Corp TGT.N and Walmart Inc WMT.N closed stores
during the unrest that included looting in many cities. Target
shares fell 2.1%, while Walmart was marginally
higher. "The riots are probably something that is going to have a
much bigger impact on political considerations than market
considerations," said John Cunnison, chief investment officer of
Baker Boyer in Walla Walla, Washington.
The simmering U.S.-China tensions pose a major risk to the
stock market rally of the last two months, investors have said.
On Monday, reports said China had told state-owned firms to halt
agricultural purchases from the United States after Washington
said it would eliminate special treatment for Hong Kong to
punish Beijing. At 12:57 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 59.60 points, or 0.23%, at 25,442.71, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 10.40 points, or 0.34%, at 3,054.71. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 57.66 points, or 0.61%, at 9,547.54.
Coty Inc COTY.N jumped 20% after the cosmetics company
appointed Chairman Peter Harf as its new chief executive
officer. Healthcare stocks .SPXHC , on the other hand, shed 1% as
Pfizer Inc PFE.N dropped 7.2% after an independent data
monitoring committee determined the drugmaker's breast cancer
treatment was unlikely to meet the main goal of a late-stage
study. Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O declined 3.5% after its
antiviral drug remdesivir had mixed results in a late stage
study of people with moderate COVID-19, as patients given a
five-day course of the treatment showed statistically
significant improvement, while those given it for 10-days did
not. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.46-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.24-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 19 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 80 new highs and eight new lows.