Wall Street erases early losses, closes with modest gains

After starting the day under pressure, major equity indexes in the U.S. were able to stage a recovery to close the day slightly higher. 

The revived geopolitical tension in the Korean Peninsula pushed investors away from riskier assets on Monday after North Korea called the joint military drills by the United States and South Korea "a step toward nuclear conflict." Moreover, falling crude oil prices dragged energy shares lower, further weighing on the indexes. As of writing, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate was at $47.50, losing 2.3% in the post-settlement trade hours.

Nevertheless, investors seem to be refraining from taking large positions ahead of the Jackson Hole Symposium later this week, which helped the equity indexes recover losses in the late NA session. Markets will be looking for hints on the monetary policy outlook from central bankers at the conference. 

"That confluence of strong growth and low inflation, which is somewhat like nirvana for equity investors, we don't think can last forever. we're hopefully getting a couple of more data points to see where the Fed takes their temperature on where they're feeling the economy is at this juncture so that we can anticipate if something happens in the fourth quarter or not," Wayne Wicker, chief investment officer at ICMA-RC in Washington, D.C., told Reuters. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 29.24 points, or 0.13%, to 21,703.75, the S&P 500 gained 1.25 points, or 0.05%, to 2,428.00 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 3.40 points, or 0.05%, to 6,213.13.

Headlines from the U.S. session:

• Bundesbank's Dombret: ECB expansionary monetary policy "very much justified"
• Trump to order approx 4,000 Army troops to Afghanistan - NPR
• NY Fed: Individuals’ near-term outlook for the labor market deteriorates - Survey
• US Sen Maj Leader McConnell: Way forward for health care is ‘murky’
• US Tsy Sec Mnuchin: Looking forward to working alongside Congress on tax reform
• US Dollar weaker, holding on to 93.00
• Chicago Fed: National activity Index points to growth near historical trend in July