US equity markets rallied strongly following news that President Trump and Chinese President Xi will meet at the G-20 summit next week in Japan - Dow up +353-points or +1.35%, with 3M (up +%) and Boeing Co (+5.4%) the leading index performers. The Dow is up +6.65% month-to-date and is on track to record its best June performance since 1938 (when the index soared +24.3%). The broader S&P500 +0.97% to settle just 1.2% shy of its record all-time intra-day high of 2,954.13 touched on 1 May. Industrials (up +1.89%) and Information Technology (+1.72%) led eight of the eleven primary sectors higher, with Consumer Staples (down -0.57%), Rea Estate (-0.34%) and Utilities (-0.31%) the only sectors to close down on the day. The technology-centric NASDAQ climed +1.39%. All three benchmark indices settled at their highest level since at least 7 May.

In US economic data, declined -0.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.269M units in May versus consensus expectations for a rebound to 1.296M. April’s data was upwardly revised to 1.281M units. However, for the year, housing starts declined 4.7% from the May 2018 levels.