Shares up on hope Trump-Xi meeting will ease trade tensions
U.S. stocks closed mostly, though modestly, higher Thursday as investors focused optimistically on a weekend meeting between President Trump and China's Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit.
China has, however, listed the removal of Huawei from the U.S. banned list as a demand for a trade deal, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Shares of Boeing fell after the Federal Aviation Administration uncovered a new software issue with the beleaguered Max jet, a fresh hurdle that is likely to further delay the jet from returning to service.
Health care and consumer stocks offset the decline in Boeing prices: Walgreens Boots Alliance shares traded higher after beating quarterly profit estimates; L Brands shares gained on the company's cost containment plans.
Ford Motor shares rose after the carmaker said it will cut 12,000 jobs in Europe and introduce a new car line there.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA | THE BOEING CO. | 164.34 | -4.83 | -2.86% |
| WBA | WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE INC. | 17.81 | -0.24 | -1.33% |
| LB | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| F | FORD MOTOR CO. | 13.05 | +0.10 | +0.81% |
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury slipped to 2.02 percent.
Commodity prices were mixed: Crude oil prices edged up 0.12 percent to $59.45 per barrel; gold fell 0.33 percent to $1,419.70 per ounce.
In economic news, the government reported that the final reading on first-quarter GDP came in at 3.1 percent, matching expectations.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 227,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Data for the prior week was revised to show 1,000 more applications than previously reported.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 38460.92 | -42.77 | -0.11% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5071.63 | +1.08 | +0.02% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15712.748618 | +16.11 | +0.10% |
In Asia on Thursday, China's Shanghai Composite added 0.7 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.4 percent and Japan's Nikkei rose 1.2 percent.
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In European markets, London's FTSE slipped 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX added 0.4 percent and France's CAC was lower by 0.1 percent.