US STOCKS-S&P 500 rises on investor optimism ahead of G20 summit

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* Kudlow: U.S. may move ahead on new China tariffs after G20
* Xi to present Trump with terms for trade war resolution
-WSJ
* Tariff-vulnerable chipmakers advance
* Boeing falls as FAA cites new flaw in 737 MAX jets
* Dow off 0.04%, S&P 500 up 0.38%, Nasdaq up 0.73%

(Updates to market close)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, June 27 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq
closed higher in a broad-based rally on Thursday as investors
looked to the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan this weekend for
progress in the long-running U.S.-China trade dispute, which has
whipsawed markets for months.
The benchmark S&P 500 snapped its four-day losing streak,
closing within 1% of its all-time high, reached a week ago.
The Dow closed slightly lower, dragged down by Boeing Co
BA.N .
Optimism fueled by a China Morning Post report that the
world's two largest economies have agreed to a tentative trade
war truce was dampened by a Wall Street Journal article saying
that Chinese President Xi Jinping will present President Donald
Trump with a set of conditions to be met by the United States
before reaching any settlement. Expectations of a deal were muddied further when White House
economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the United States may move
ahead with further tariffs on Chinese goods after the two
leaders meet this weekend at the Group of 20 summit in Japan.
Trump and Xi are expected to discuss a way forward
regarding tariffs and other issues when they meet.
"Today's trading is a G20 pregame," said Matt Forester,
chief investment officer of BNY Mellon's Lockwood Advisors in
New York. "Given the tone of today's markets, people believe
there will be some diminishment of trade tensions coming out of
the meeting."
"No pair of geopolitical rivals in history have had more
connection to each other's economies," Forester added. "There's
a lot of pressure to get this right."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 10.24 points,
or 0.04%, to 26,526.58, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 11.14 points,
or 0.38%, to 2,924.92 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
57.79 points, or 0.73%, to close at 7,967.76.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, all but energy
stocks .SPNY ended the session higher.
Chipmakers, whose revenue exposure to China makes them
vulnerable to tariffs, ended the session higher. The
Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX rose 1.5%.
"Chipmakers are a proxy for trade optimism," said Chuck
Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services
in Hammond, Indiana. "They have become the trade du jour for
traders betting for or against a trade deal" between the United
States and China.
Ford Motor Co F.N advanced 2.9% after the automaker
announced it would cut 12,000 jobs in its troubled Ford Europe
segment. Boeing Co BA.N dropped 2.9% following a Reuters report on
Wednesday that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
identified a new safety risk in the planemaker's grounded 737
MAX aircraft. Conagra Brands CAG.N reported quarterly earnings that
missed analyst estimates because of waning demand and
manufacturing challenges. Its shares fell 12.1%.
Higher drug prices and an increase in prescription volume
helped Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA.O beat quarterly
earnings expectations, sending its stock up 4.1%. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
2.50-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.92-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 6 new 52-week highs and 1 new low; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 36 new highs and 62 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.14 billion shares, compared
to the 6.98 billion average for the full session over the last
20 trading days.