(The Closing Bell will be updated sometime after 4:00 PM CDST to include the latest updates from IBD and Bloomberg Evening Briefing.)
FYI: U.S. stock indexes posted modest gains on Wednesday as investors waited for a possible trade deal with China.32
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.32% in afternoon trading. The S&P 500 was down 0.12%, after briefly dipping into negative territory, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.04%.
Stocks got a boost after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a CNBC interview that there was “a path to complete” a trade deal between the U.S. and China. He also said that a deal had previously been “about 90%” done.
The muted reaction to Mr. Mnuchin’s comments shows investors are awaiting tangible results from the talks, said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors. “It’s hard to take too much out of his comments,” Mr. Arone said. “There’s a bit of posturing ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting.”
Trade-sensitive semiconductor stocks helped lift the Nasdaq. Micron Technology soared 13% after the memory-chip maker reported better-than-expected quarterly results after Tuesday’s close. The company also said it had resumed shipments to Huawei after determining they didn’t run afoul of U.S. curbs on exports to the Chinese telecom giant.
Energy stocks were among the biggest gainers in the S&P 500, boosted by a jump in the price of oil. Benchmark U.S. crude oil futures rose 2.8% to $59.44 a barrel after government data showed a steeper-than-expected drop in inventories, a sign of strong demand.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 2.035%, rebounding from a recent slide. Bond yields rise as prices fall.
Bitcoin extended its meteoric rise, rising above $13,000 for the first time in around a year and a half. The cryptocurrency has rallied since Facebook said last week it planned to launch its own digital currency. Bitcoin was recently trading at $13,453.90, more than triple its price at the start of the year.
Gold fell 0.2% to $1,411.60 a troy ounce, reversing a four-day rally that had lifted the price of the precious metal to its highest level since 2013.
Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.3%. Asian markets were slightly lower or close to flat, with Japan’s Nikkei posting the largest decline of 0.5%.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-26/your-evening-briefingMarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stocks-set-to-snap-back-as-mnuchin-says-us-was-90-of-the-way-there-on-china-trade-deal-2019-06-26/printWSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-follow-wall-street-lower-as-fed-signals-independence-11561536665Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-25/asia-stocks-to-slip-as-yields-drop-on-growth-worry-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/technology-energy-stocks-lead-lackluster-market/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/26/stock-market-traders-digest-feds-powell-comments.htmlReuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/wall-st-rises-on-tech-gains-trade-hopes-idUSKCN1TR1LQU.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/ftse-100-retreats-after-fed-plays-down-rate-cut-hopes-idUKKCN1TR0QGEurope:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/european-stocks-fall-after-fed-cools-mood-idUSKCN1TR0ONAsia:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/26/asia-markets-the-fed-us-china-trade-currencies-in-focus.htmlBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/26/bond-market-treasury-yields-focus-on-jerome-powell-comments.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/26/forex-market-fed-rate-cut-bets-us-iran-tensions-in-focus.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/26/oil-jumps-2point5percent-in-sudden-move-to-above-59.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/26/gold-market-fed-rate-cut-bets-us-china-trade-war-in-focus.htmlWSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/usMajor ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitorSPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-trackerSPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectorsCurrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
