Stocks Struggle to Mixed Finish

Stocks struggled to a mixed finish on Wall Street as weakness in smaller-company stocks offset gains in large companies, the AP reports. The market had rallied early Monday on hopes that trade tensions were easing between the US and China. By afternoon, those gains were mostly gone. Casino operators and equipment companies got a boost from a Supreme Court decision that cleared the way for states to legalize sports betting. MGM Resorts rose 1.6%. The S&P 500 rose 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,730. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 68 points, or 0.3%, to 24,899. The Nasdaq climbed 8 points, or 0.1%, to 7,411. Small-company stocks fell. The Russell 2000 lost 6 points, or 0.4%, to 1,600. (More stock market stories.)