NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. and global stock markets were mostly higher Tuesday as investors worked through the outcome of the meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average was down 23 points, or 0.1 percent, to 25,299 as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose a point, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,783 and the Nasdaq composite rose 15 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,675.
SUMMIT WATCH: Trump and Kim concluded their summit by signing a joint document in which they committed to working “toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” and to joining together “to build a lasting and stable peace regime” on the Korean Peninsula.
The broad promises largely reiterated past agreements and included a commitment to “establish new U.S.-DPRK relations” but many of the details were vague and there was no agreement to end the technical state of war between North and South Korea.
ANALYST’S TAKE: “Deal or no deal? Just don’t ask what comprises a ‘deal’ and we are fine. At the risk of sounding a tad frivolous, that appears to be the truth of the matter,” said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in Singapore of the Trump-Kim summit.
AT&T WATCH: A federal judge is expected to rule on the proposed merger of AT&T and Time Warner on Tuesday afternoon after markets close. The Trump administration sued to block the proposed $85 billion merger. Time Warner shares were down 9 cents to $96.08 and AT&T shares were up 27 cents to $34.44.
CENTRAL BANKS: The Federal Reserve starts a two-day meeting on interest rates on Tuesday.
Investors expect the central bank to raise its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 1.75-2 percent. However investors’ attention will focus more on how many additional rate hikes Fed officials may do this year. On Thursday, the European Central Bank will meet and could outline an end to its stimulus program, while on Friday the Bank of Japan is due to give its latest policy update.
INFLATION: The government said that U.S. consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in May, with surging gasoline costs driving much of the increase. The Labor Department said Thursday that the consumer price index climbed 2.8 percent last month from a year earlier, putting inflation on its fastest annual pace since February 2012. But core prices — which exclude the volatile food and energy categories — have risen a milder 2.2 percent over the past 12 months.
Fed officials have been closely watching inflation data, since they have a target of inflation being roughly 2 percent per year. Right now, inflation is running hotter than what officials want, which could mean more interest rate hikes.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 14 cents to $65.96 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 46 cents to $76.01 per barrel in London.
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