NEW YORK, July 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday in subdued trading ahead of the Fourth of July Independence Day holiday as investors geared up for the second half of 2023 following a strong first-half market rally.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 10.87 points, or 0.03 percent, to 34,418.47. The S&P 500 added 5.21 points, or 0.12 percent, to 4,455.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 28.85 points, or 0.21 percent, to 13,816.77.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with consumer discretionary and real estate leading the gainers by rising 1.07 percent and 0.85 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, health and technology lost 0.82 percent and 0.31 percent, respectively.

U.S. stocks rose slightly on Monday in a shortened session that kicked off the second half of 2023. U.S. markets closed early ahead of the Independence Day holiday and will be closed Tuesday as well, with investors struggling for direction following a stellar first-half rally on Wall Street.

"There are not a lot of participants today and volume is low, but I think people are celebrating the fact that we just rocked June," said Jeff Kilburg, founder and chief executive of KKM Financial, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "Investors really started the fireworks show early last Friday."

"With both global and U.S. stocks more than 20 percent above their October 2022 lows and a more challenging second-half outlook, we believe investors should position for more lackluster stock market performance through the remainder of the year," according to an analysis published by UBS Global Wealth Management on Monday.

Investors were also digesting the latest economic data released on Monday.

The U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) in June dropped to 46.0 from 46.9 in the previous month, the lowest reading since May 2020, according to data released by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Monday. June's reading marked the eighth straight month that the PMI stayed below the 50 threshold, signaling contraction in manufacturing and broader economic activity.

Manufacturing PMIs disappoint once more but services is what central banks are obsessed with, said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, a supplier of online multi-asset trading services.

"And then there's the fact that manufacturing being deep in contraction territory is nothing new and what revisions we did see doesn't really change that. Even as far as prices are concerned, central banks at this stage are far more concerned with what's happening in services than manufacturing so even that providing welcome disinflationary pressure won't be enough," said Erlam.

Later in the week, investors are going to follow a flurry of economic data on the job market, which will provide further insight on the path of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.