F Ford Motor Company

By Chris Matthews and Mark DeCambre, MarketWatch

China pushed to end punitive trade tariffs ahead of G-20 meeting

U.S. stocks were higher midsession Thursday, after four days of losses, as investors await further news on U.S. China trade relations from the G-20 meeting in Japan where President Donald Trump and China's president Xi Jinpeng are expected to meet.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 50 points, or 0.20%, at 26,589, while the S&P 500 index traded up14 points, or 0.48%, at 2,927 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 55 points, or 0.7%, at 7,965.

An agreement between Trump and Xi at the G-20 summit in Japan would avert the next round of tariffs on additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping will present President Donald Trump terms to resolve a market-rattling trade confrontation ahead of an expected meeting at the sidelines of the G-20 gathering of developed countries set to take place in Osaka, Japan, this weekend.

Terms include the removal of a ban on the sale of U.S. technology to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co., the removal of punitive tariffs, and an end to a request for China to buy additional U.S. exports.

The demands raise some doubts that the two sides can achieve a detente and comes after a report (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-china-reach-tentative-tariff-truce-report-2019-06-26) from the South China Morning Post (https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3016255/trade-war-us-and-china-agree-tentative-truce-g20-summit)that a tentative U.S.-China truce had been achieved.

Comments from Larry Kudlow, National Economic Council director, added to the uncertainty around trade. Kudlow told Fox News that no preconditions were set ahead of Trump's meeting with Xi. He also said the U.S. may move forward with additional tariffs.

"The more optimistic tone earlier was due to some positive headlines regarding this weekend's meeting between President Trump and President Xi," wrote Bespoke Investment Group's Paul Hickey, in a Thursday note to clients. "But some of the air was let out of the balloon following a less optimistic tone from the WSJ."

Economic data

On the economic data front, the Commerce Department issued its final revision of first quarter GDP growth (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/first-quarter-gdp-left-at-31-as-stronger-business-investment-offsets-weaker-consumer-spending-2019-06-27) and said the U.S. economy grew at a solid rate of 3.1% in the first quarter, but consumer spending and business investments grew at a slower pace than in the earlier estimates.

The Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits rose 10,000 to 227,000 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-climb-to-7-week-high-of-227000-2019-06-27) in the seven days ended June 22, compared to the week prior. Economists polled by MarketWatch estimated new claims would total 216,000.

Which stocks are in focus?

Boeing (BA) fell 2.6% after the Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday that it has found an issue with the 737 Max that the manufacturer must address before it lifts the national grounding order.

Ford (F) was up 2.8% after announcing 12,000 job cuts in Europe by the end of 2020 and said its European operations were on track to improve by the end of 2019.

Shares of Lyft Inc. (LYFT) rose 1.7%, after news that autonomous vehicle firm Waymo, which is a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), has officially launched a program to make some self-driving minivans available for Lyft customers. The program is only available in a small area outside, Phoenix, Arizona.

Rite Aid Corp. (RAD)announced first-quarter financial results (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rite-aid-stock-falls-10-after-larger-than-expected-quarterly-loss-2019-06-26) Wednesday evening, reporting a larger-than-expected loss and no revenue growth. Shares of the retailer were down 4.4% Thursday. Rival Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA), meanwhile reported better-than-expected (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/walgreens-stock-up-1-after-earnings-beat-2019-06-27) fiscal third-quarter earnings on Thursday morning sending the stock up 3.5%

Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (CAG) tumbled 8.2%, after the processed and packaged-foods manufacturer reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/conagra-shares-sink-after-earnings-and-sales-miss-expectations-2019-06-27)earnings and sales Thursday morning.

How did other markets trade?

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell less than a basis point to 2.033% with Goldman Sachs cutting its year end forecast to 1.75%, the same as JPMorgan Chase. The yield has fallen from 2.4% at the beginning of the quarter.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.2% overnight, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.7%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.4%. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 was trading 0.2% lower.

In commodities markets, the price of crude oil was little changed around $59.40 a barrel. Gold gold prices slipped for a second day after reaching a six year high earlier this week. The U.S. dollar was trading flat, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index at 96.23.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 27, 2019 13:37 ET (17:37 GMT)

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