Wall Street stocks mixed see some profit-taking

• North and South Korea leaders historical face to face discussion for the first time in 60 years, talk about denuclearization.
• Angela Merkel visits US President Trump, she will try to "limit the damage", particularly with the Iranian nuclear deal issue.  

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 2,669.91 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 11.15 points and closed at 24,311.19. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed unchanged at 7,119.80 as Apple, Alphabet and Netflix dropped. This is a pullback day in stocks after the strong advance seen on Thursday. The US 10-year Treasury yields declined for the second day in a row on Friday further helping stocks stabilize. Higher yields are seen as bearish for stocks as it gets investors out of risk assets into cash.  

On the geopolitical front, South and North Korea’s leaders met in a historical face to face discussion for the first time in 60 years. They discussed plans to completely denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. This bodes pretty well for world stocks as it slightly decreases the risks of war. Although some analysts argue that the meeting doesn’t actually change the broader picture. "It does nothing to change the long-term calculations of the North Korean leader about his need for a credible nuclear threat to ultimately protect his regime," argues Meredith Sumpter from Eurasia Group.

Also worth noting is Angela Merkel’s trip to Washington. She will address the issues on the Iran nuclear deal, the project of US tariffs on European metals products and Berlin's military spending. "Macron has a good personal relationship with Trump and Merkel has a bad relationship with him, but it's not necessarily a problem. In fact, I don't actually think she cares that much about it. This trip is about damage limitation. We are almost in crisis mode with tariffs being threatened, so her focus has to be on that," Charles Lichfield from Eurasia Group.

Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil reported $1.09 earning per share versus $1.12 expected for the first quarter of 2018. However, its revenue increased 16% to $4.65 billion from a year ago.

S&P500 daily chart