By Akane Otani and Paul J. Davies 

U.S. stocks drifted between small gains and losses Monday as a dearth of economic data kept trading activity relatively subdued.

Stocks have rallied in recent weeks and the S&P 500 has headed toward its best June in decades as central banks in the U.S. and Europe have talked up further support for stuttering economies. Still, many analysts remain cautious, warning that any signs that trade talks between the U.S. and China are faltering could spark fresh volatility.

President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet at the Group of 20 summit in Japan later this week.

"Everything else is probably secondary" to the trade talks, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Holdings. "If you can get in and get out of the G-20 without things breaking down, that's probably the most important thing for the markets."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30 points, or 0.1%, to 26749, inching closer to its October record close. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.2%.

Earnings and deal news drove swings among individual stocks Monday even as major indexes drifted along in a relatively narrow range.

Caesars Entertainment jumped 15% after rival casino operator Eldorado Resorts agreed to acquire it in a cash-and-stock transaction that will form one of the biggest gambling companies in the U.S.

Bristol-Myers Squibb fell 7.3% after it said it would divest itself of a psoriasis treatment owned by Celgene in an effort to address regulators' concerns ahead of the two companies' merger. Celgene shares fell 5.3%.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 edged down 0.3% after the Ifo business-climate index, a measure of German business sentiment, fell to 97.4 points in June -- its lowest level since November 2014.

That suggests the country's industrial recession has dragged on in the second quarter, according to Christina Iacovides, assistant economist at Capital Economics.

Germany's DAX index was down 0.5%. Shares of car makers also lost ground after Germany's Daimler warned second-quarter profits could be hit by expenses related to investigations into vehicles suspected of manipulating diesel emissions.

Trading in Asia was largely muted, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average up 0.1% and the Shanghai Composite edging up 0.2%.

Many global stock indexes remain up double-digit percentages for the year. Still, UBS analysts warn that an escalation of the U.S.-China trade conflict could push global stocks down by 20% by the middle of next year, while 10-year Treasury yields could be fall as low as 1.3%.

"The simple message is that market prices see the trade war talk largely as posturing," the analysts said in a note.

Write to Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com and Paul J. Davies at paul.davies@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 24, 2019 15:30 ET (19:30 GMT)