US STOCKS-Wall St rises as recovery hopes offset U.S. protests, China tensions

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* Target, Walmart shut stores as protests turn violent
* Coty rises after appointing Chairman Peter Harf as CEO
* Indexes up: Dow 0.12%, S&P 0.10%, Nasdaq 0.33%

(Updates to open)
By Devik Jain
June 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher on Monday on
prospects of a post-pandemic economic recovery, but the
sentiment remained fragile amid protests across the country over
race and an ongoing standoff between Washington and Beijing.
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. "With the economic data beginning to ease off from their
dire position two months ago, there is further upside as we head
into the summer, which is normally a fairly difficult period for
markets," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
The three main indexes had opened lower as 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
and Walmart shares fell 1.9% and 0.9%, respectively. Further denting the sentiment, 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. "The tensions between the United States and China and the
U.S. protests are beginning to make investors a little bit
nervous," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan
Capital Securities in New York.
The escalation in Sino-U.S. tensions poses a major threat to
the stock market's rebound since late March that was powered by
expectations of a recovery from the coronavirus-led downturn.
U.S. stocks had rebounded late in Friday's session, with the
S&P 500 logging its biggest two-month percentage gain since
2009, after President Donald Trump's measures against China did
not include a breakdown of the trade deal like many had feared.
At 10:16 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 30.31 points, or 0.12%, at 25,413.42, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 3.03 points, or 0.10%, at 3,047.34. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 31.53 points, or 0.33%, at 9,521.40.
Healthcare stocks .SPXHC shed 1.2%, weighing the most on
the benchmark index.
Pfizer Inc PFE.N fell 7.6% after the drugmaker said the
late stage trial of its breast cancer drug Ibrance was unlikely
to meet the main goal of study.
Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O fell 3.8% 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.
Coty Inc COTY.N jumped 19.8% after the cosmetics company
appointed Chairman Peter Harf as its new chief executive
officer. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.60-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.87-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 14 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 52 new highs and six new lows.