By Alexander Osipovich and Joe Wallace

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite led major indexes higher, setting up stocks to continue a healthy start to June.

Nvidia rose more than 3% on Tuesday, while chip maker Broadcom gained more than 2%, putting it on track for a record high. Tech and energy were the best performing sectors of the S&P 500. The dollar gained ground.

More broadly, though, stocks have struggled for direction since mid-May. Pressured by markets, President Trump has paused some of his most extreme tariffs, cheering investors. But progress in negotiations with China, Japan and the European Union is hard to discern.

Dollar General shares jumped after the retailer raised its outlook, saying it had was well-positioned to handle a variety of economic environments. Tariff-fueled price rises are increasing the appeal of discount chains.

In fresh evidence of the economic toll of the tariff war, a private gauge Tuesday suggested Chinese factory activity tumbled in May. This followed feeble U.S. manufacturing data Monday. Another government report showed U.S. factory orders declined 3.7% in April, worse than economists expected.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, meanwhile, said the world economy would slow this year, hamstrung by trade-policy uncertainty. The group said the U.S. economy would be among the hardest hit and urged governments to strike trade deals.

Beijing and Washington have traded accusations about violations of the recent trade truce over the past few days. The White House said Monday that Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping were likely to speak this week, but Beijing hasn't commented.

Investors also await progress on Trump's tax-and-spending megabill, which narrowly passed the House last month but now faces uncertainty in the Senate.

In recent trading:

The Dow and S&P 500 were up modestly, while the Nasdaq climbed 0.8%.

Constellation Energy rallied in early trading after it struck a deal to provide nuclear power for Meta Platforms, but later gave up most of its gains.

U.S. Treasury yields ticked higher. Overseas, Japanese bond prices rose after a strong 10-year bond auction, while Ukraine defaulted on a sovereign bond payment.

The WSJ Dollar Index strengthened. On Monday, the gauge weakened to settle at its lowest level since July 2023.

Major European indexes closed higher. Data showed eurozone inflation came in below 2% in May. Asian stocks were mixed.

Write to Alexander Osipovich at alexo@wsj.com and Joe Wallace at joe.wallace@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 03, 2025 12:13 ET (16:13 GMT)

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