STOCKS START JUNE WITH TINY GAINS
After surprising to the upside last month, stocks closed almost unchanged on the first trading day of June as Wall Street weighed the economic health of China with a third straight month of slow but expanding U.S. manufacturing. After rallying 1.5% in May -- a month that kicks off what historically has been the worst six-month stretch for stocks -- the broad Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.1% to close at 2099.33. The Dow Jones industrial average, which fell nearly 90 points Tuesday and edged up 2 points, or less than 0.1%, to 17,789.67. The Nasdaq composite, which sprinted ahead 3.6% in May, also rose 0.1% to finish at 4952.25.