(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. stocks rose Thursday, with the S&P 500 on track to snap a four-day losing streak.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.38% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.73%, lifted by hopes that the U.S. and China might make progress on their trade dispute at the G-20 meeting of the world’s largest economies this weekend.
The outlook for the talks is uncertain. Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to present President Trump with a set of terms the U.S. should meet before Beijing is ready to settle a market-rattling trade confrontation.
Real estate led the rally Thursday morning while consumer staples dipped. CBRE Group Inc., a commercial real-estate investment firm, gained 2% to $50.76 a share.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average wavered between small gains and losses for much of the session and lost 0.04% in afternoon trading. The index was weighed down by Boeing Co. The U.S. aircraft maker declined 2% to $367.57 a share in after news late Wednesday that federal regulators identified a new software problem with the troubled 737 MAX, which has been grounded after two fatal crashes.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. was the best performer in the Dow, gaining 4.8% to $54.93 a share. The drugstore chain reported Thursday morning that it saw increases in prescription growth and U.S. retail and same-store sales during the most recent quarter.
Smaller companies are also rallying today after lagging all week, said Shana Sissel, senior portfolio manager for CLS Investments, an Omaha, Neb., firm that manages $10 billion. The Russell 2000 index advanced 1.3%.
She also pointed to gains by semiconductor firms like Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which rose 2.4%, and Nvidia Corp. , which gained 2.5%.
European indexes were little changed after eurozone survey data showed manufacturers in the bloc were at their most downbeat this month since September 2013. European consumers were more optimistic, but the overall European Economic Sentiment Indicator hit its lowest level since August 2016.
The slowdown in Europe is feeding expectations of potential rate cuts to come from the European Central Bank, according to economists. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields also fell to 2.02%, according to FactSet.
Asian stocks were also buoyed by hopes that the U.S. and China will reach a truce on trade. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.7%.
A trade deal wouldn’t necessarily mean an immediate boost for economic activity: Singapore’s central bank issued a warning on growth for the year on Thursday, with manufacturing and trade looking particularly weak.
Exports from the Southeast Asian city-state have dropped more than 9% since the start of the year, and analysts at Maybank, a local investment bank, warned that even if a trade were struck soon, its effects might only materialize in the final quarter of this year.
U.S. benchmark oil futures advanced were little changed at $59.40 a barrel. Gold declined 0.4% to $1,410.50 an ounce.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/boeings-stock-set-to-slash-about-100-points-from-dow-china-presents-terms-to-tariff-tiff-2019-06-27/printMarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/boeings-stock-set-to-slash-about-100-points-from-dow-china-presents-terms-to-tariff-tiff-2019-06-27/printWSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-stocks-follow-asian-indexes-higher-11561623906Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-26/asia-stocks-to-open-mixed-treasuries-decline-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/stock-market-shakes-off-trade-jitters-posts-gain-these-chinese-stocks-rise-in-pre-g-20-trading/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/stock-market-wall-street-in-focus-amid-hopes-of-us-china-trade-truce.htmlReuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/wall-street-rallies-as-investors-eye-g20-summit-idUSKCN1TS1PAU.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/ftse-100-slips-on-uncertain-u-s-china-trade-prospects-idUKKCN1TS0T5Europe:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/european-shares-hand-back-gains-after-white-house-dampens-sino-u-s-trade-optimism-idUSKCN1TS0SMAsia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-rise-on-renewed-hopes-of-trade-truce-emerging-from-g-20-meeting-2019-06-26/printBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/us-bondspotential-us-china-trade-truce-in-focus.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/forex-market-us-china-trade-talks-g20-summit-in-focus.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/oil-market-g20-meeting-opec-supply-cuts-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/gold-market-us-china-trade-talks-fed-rate-cut-bets-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 
