NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks rose modestly in early trading Thursday as markets awaited a key G20 meeting in the long-running US-China trade dispute.

Investors took in stride a Wall Street Journal report that said Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to demand that US President Donald Trump rescind a ban on doing business with Huawei as among the conditions of relaunching formal negotiations.

The two leaders are expected to meet on Saturday.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 26,556.00, up 0.1 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 2,926.45, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3 percent to 7,956.23.

Official data confirmed US economic growth at 3.1 percent in the first quarter, while weekly US jobless claims edged higher.

Among individual companies, Dow member Boeing fell 3.1 percent after the Federal Aviation Administration identified a new issue with the 737 MAX that could further push back the timetable to return the plane to the sky after two deadly crashes.

Another Dow company, Walgreens Boots Alliance, jumped 3.6 percent after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter profits.

Food company Conagra slumped 9.4 percent on disappointment over its fiscal 2020 forecast and as fourth-quarter results were dented by heavy pricing promotion and "several isolated manufacturing-related challenges," among other issues. —AFP