US benchmark equity indexes ended higher Monday as tech techs drove the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to closing record highs again.
* The New York Federal Reserve's Empire State manufacturing index improved to negative 6 in June from negative 15.6 in May, compared with a negative 11.3 reading expected in a Bloomberg survey. The reading is the first for the manufacturing sector for June, suggesting a slowdown in the pace of contraction.
* France's CAC 40 made a cautious rebound of 0.9% at the close on Monday after slumping last week, possibly responding to moderate comments made by Marine Le Pen, leader of the rising National Rally party. Le Pen's party appears to be gaining strength in parliamentary electoral polls following a surprise move by French President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve the parliament, opening the door for the potential reshaping of politics in the EU.
* July West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose $2.03 to $80.48 per barrel, while August Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $1.79 at $84.41 on expectations for rising demand during the busy summer season, offsetting weak industrial data from China.
* Mustang Bio (MBIO) shares more than quintupled after the company said that updated data from its phase 1/2 clinical trial of MB-106 indicated a 90% overall response rate in Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia blood cancer patients previously treated with Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
* Matthews International (MATW) shares fell 7.1% after Tesla (TSLA) accused the company of stealing confidential trade secrets related to the automaker's dry-electrode battery manufacturing technology. Tesla stock jumped 5.3%.
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