By Sue Chang and Ellie Ismailidou, MarketWatch

Stocks on track for monthly losses, but positive year-to-date

U.S. stocks were rising for a straight third session on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average advancing more than 200 points on mounting expectations for even more accommodative policies from global central banks following the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union last week.

The Dow advanced 210 points, or 1.2%, led by a 2.6% jump in General Electric Co. (GE).

The S&P 500 climbed 24 points, or 1.1%, to 2,094, with all 10 sectors in positive territory, led by a 1.8% rise in consumer-staples stocks. The Nasdaq Composite gained 46 points, or 1% to 4,825.

Markets were boosted by reports indicating the European Central Bank is weighing changes to its bond-buying program, while "the Bank of England also said they are all in," said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading.

The European Central Bank is considering changing the rules regarding the types of bonds it can buy as part of its stimulus package to amid concerns it could run out of securities to buy under current stipulations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ecb-weighs-looser-bond-buying-rules-report-2016-06-30), according to Bloomberg News. The report followed comments from Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney, who indicated the central bank is poised to further ease monetary policy (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pound-tanks-as-boes-carney-indicates-further-easing-to-come-2016-06-30) to combat an expected economic slowdown as the country works its way through Brexit.

The main indexes are set to book monthly losses but were modestly higher over the quarter and on Wednesday turned positive on a year-to-date basis. All major indexes are moving toward levels they were trading at ahead of last week's U.K. referendum as initial jitters over Brexit subsided.

"We are clawing back from the losses after Brexit as investors realized that it was not the watershed event that they thought it was," said James Abate, chief investment officer at Centre Asset Management LLC.

Still, he cautioned that it may too soon the judge the impact of the U.K.'s departure from the EU.

Crude-oil prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-ease-after-biggest-gain-in-2-months-2016-06-30), which posted their biggest gain on Wednesday since early April, turned south to trade down more than 2%.

Even as the U.K.'s FTSE 100 has erased its post-Brexit slide (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-eases-back-after-returning-to-pre-brexit-level-2016-06-30) and U.S. benchmarks logged in the last two sessions their largest two-day jump since February, this doesn't change the fact that the stock market is trading at historically high valuations amid continuing political uncertainty, said Jeff Carbone, managing director at wealth manager Cornerstone Financial Partners.

"Get ready for continued volatility," he said.

While EU leaders are urging the U.K. to move ahead with the first step in triggering Brexit, the country is in political turmoil after Prime Minister David Cameron said he would resign and leave that move to his successor.

Brexit backer and former London Mayor Boris Johnson said Thursday he won't participate in the race to succeed Cameron, (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/former-london-mayor-boris-johnson-wont-seek-to-replace-british-prime-minister-2016-06-30) confounding widely held expectations.

"It appears that markets have developed into more of a consolidation and there will be fears that this could simply have been an unwinding move that provides another chance to sell," said Richard Perry, market analyst at Hantec Markets, in a note.

From a technical-analysis perspective, "the longer-term trend [for the S&P 500] remains up since February," said to Frank Cappelleri, technical analyst at Instinet, in emailed comments.

But the index "is still searching for direction in the short-term," Cappelleri said. "While the [S&P] has had it chances to break out (and down) multiple times over the last three months, it has yet to thoroughly leverage any apparent support [or] resistance penetrations."

Meanwhile, Katie Stockton, chief technical strategist at BTIG, cautioned that signs of upside exhaustion are emerging after the market's "impressive" bounce. "We expect resistance to be discovered today, leading to further deterioration in short-term momentum," she said in a note.

Economic docket:A measure of Chicago-area economic activity (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chicago-pmi-surges-in-june-2016-06-30)surged in June on a big advance in the number of purchasing managers, indicating improving production and new orders.

Stocks to watch:Yahoo Inc.(YHOO) rose 1.8% as shareholders held their annual meeting.

Shares of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF) shed 2.2% following an agreement to be purchased by Starz(STRZA)for $4.4 billion in cash and stock (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lions-gate-starz-shares-soar-after-merger-deal-announced-2016-06-30). Starz's shares popped 7.8%.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(WMT) climbed 1% after announcing Thursday it is launching Wal-Mart Pay in 11 more states (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wal-mart-launches-walmart-pay-in-more-than-500-stores-2016-06-30), making its mobile pay service available in more than 500 new stores.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI), whose chains include Olive Garden and The Capital Grille, fell 3.4% after the company posted a rise in quarterly profit while sales missed expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/darden-profit-rises-while-sales-miss-dividend-increased-12-2016-06-30). Darden did raise its dividend by 12%.

Liquor and beer maker Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ) rose 3% after the company said its earnings and sales rose above expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/constellation-brands-earnings-sales-rise-above-expectations-2016-06-30).

McCormick & Co. Inc.(MKC) rallied 3.5% after the company's profits rose (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mccormick-profit-rises-beats-expectations-2016-06-30)as acquisitions and cost-cutting helped boost the spicemaker's sales.

Pier 1 Imports Inc.(PIR) reported a quarterly loss and a decline in sales (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pier-1-imports-joins-in-weak-retail-results-2016-06-29) late Wednesday, sending shares down 8.6%.

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-gains-more-ground-after-eia-reports-41-million-barrel-fall-in-us-crude-supplies-2016-06-29)Tractor Supply Co.(TSCO) shares fell 3.7% after the company's second-quarter forecast fell short of expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tractor-supply-co-warning-sends-stock-sliding-2016-06-29). The farm-equipment supplier also lowered its annual forecast.

Progress Software Corp.(PRGS) shares jumped 6.8% following the business software maker's report of better-than-expected second-quarter earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/progress-software-stock-gains-on-sales-boost-2016-06-29).

Other markets: Oil prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-ease-after-biggest-gain-in-2-months-2016-06-30) dropped almost 2%, trading below $49 a barrel. European stocks continued to advance, gaining for a third session.

Asian stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-shares-edge-higher-as-post-brexit-vote-relief-sinks-in-2016-06-30) ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Average edging up 0.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining 1.8%.

Gold futures were off 0.5% to $1,320.60 an ounce. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index added 0.6%.

--Carla Mozée in London contributed to this article.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 30, 2016 14:26 ET (18:26 GMT)

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