By Paul J. Davies 

-- Asian stocks rally, Japan up 1.2% and India up 0.7%

-- S&P 500 futures up 0.1%, Stoxx Europe 600 slips 0.2%

-- Brent crude dips 1.1%

Stocks in Europe slipped in morning trade after a measure of confidence among eurozone manufacturers dipped to its lowest level in six years as global trade disputes lingered.

Real estate and media shares led declines. The U.K.'s Rightmove dropped 3.5% and France's Vivendi dropped 3.3%.

Meanwhile, Bayer was up 7.5% after the company set up a supervisory committee to address its legal battle with cancer patients over its herbicide Roundup. Clothing giant Hennes & Mauritz rose 9.6% after reporting strong June sales along with second-quarter results that met expectations.

In the U.S., aircraft maker Boeing was down 6.3% in premarket trade 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 this year.

Asian stocks rose on hopes that the U.S. and China might reach some kind of settlement to their trade dispute at the G-20 meeting of the world's largest economies this weekend. Chinese A-shares were up 0.7%, while shares in Hong Kong were 1.4% higher.

However, a trade deal wouldn't necessarily mean economic activity would immediately get a boost: Singapore's central bank issued a warning on growth for the second half 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. Singapore's Straits Times index was up 0.8% Thursday.

Indian stocks were stronger for most of the session but faltered toward the close after President Trump attacked the country's tariffs on U.S. goods. The president called India's tariffs "unacceptable" ahead of a planned meeting Friday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Indian economic growth disappointed in the first quarter, leading the central bank to cut rates for a third time in a row earlier this month, supporting markets but prompting some concerns about inflation risks, especially for food. The BSE 100 had been up more than 0.5%, but later lost ground to trade 0.2% higher.

European indexes fell slightly, with the Stoxx Europe 600 down 0.2%. German 10-year bund yields were at minus 0.298%, up from minus 0.300% Wednesday. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields edged up to 2.055% from 2.048% Wednesday.

Gold also fell, down 0.7% to $1,406.00 an ounce.

Write to Paul J. Davies at paul.davies@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 27, 2019 07:02 ET (11:02 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.