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By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) - Wall Street posted gains on
Tuesday as market participants looked past widespread social
unrest and pandemic worries to focus instead on easing lockdown
restrictions and signs of economic recovery.
Tech shares, along with cyclical stocks like industrials and
financials, gave the biggest lift to all three major stock
indexes.
The Nasdaq, the S&P 500 and the Dow have been approaching
their all-time closing highs in recent weeks and are now about
2%, 9% and 13%, respectively, below record closing levels.
"Technicals are pushing the market higher and the market's
not paying attention to the potential problems that the protests
could have on local economies," said Peter Cardillo, chief
market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
Nationwide, violent protests over the death of a black man
at the hands of law enforcement officers continued unabated,
even as President Donald Trump vowed to unleash the military on
the demonstrators.
"If the violence continues it might worsen the coronavirus'
impact on businesses," Cardillo added. "A lot of stores would
close; there'd be curfews; people wouldn't be able to shop and
that would further hurt the economy."
But the green shoots of economic rebound driven in no small
part by massive stimulus packages from Capitol Hill and the U.S.
Federal Reserve has helped fuel investor optimism.
Market participants now await Friday's crucial jobs report
from the Labor Department for a clearer picture of the extent of
economic damage wrought by mandated lockdowns. The report is
expected to show the unemployment rate surging to a historic
19.7%.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose
1.05% to end at 25,742.17 points, while the S&P 500
gained 0.82% to 3,080.79.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.59% to 9,608.59.
The ARCA Airline index, whose constituents have been
hit particularly hard by COVID-19-related restrictions, was
boosted by a slow but steady increase in commercial air traffic.
Southwest Airlines Co advanced after extending
buyout and paid leaves to employees in what its chief executive
called an effort to "ensure survival."
Shares of Slack Technologies Inc closed higher
after Cowen initiated coverage of the workspace communication
platform with an "outperform" rating.
A report that Western Union has made an offer to buy
smaller rival MoneyGram International Inc. The shares of
both money transfer companies jumped.
Shares of luxury retailer Tiffany & Co dropped following a
report from WWD that its deal with LVMH is seen as uncertain
amid deteriorating U.S. market.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)