US STOCKS-Wall St set for best June in decades as G20 convenes

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* Investors eye Trump-Xi meeting at G20 summit in Japan
* S&P 500, Dow on track for best June in decades
* Banks rise on clearing Fed's final stress test
* Consumer spending, inflation data support Fed rate cut
* Indexes up: Dow 0.21%, S&P 500 0.35%, Nasdaq 0.22%

(Updates to late afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, June 28 (Reuters) - Wall Street advanced on
Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow on track for their best
June in generations, ahead of the much-anticipated trade talks
between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart
Xi Jinping at the G20 summit now underway in Japan.
All three major U.S. stock indexes were higher near the
close of the week, month, quarter and first half of the year,
during which the U.S. stock market has had a remarkable run.
The S&P 500 was poised to have its best June since 1955. The
Dow was on track for its best June since 1938.
From the start of 2019, after investors fled equities amid
fears of a global economic slowdown and sending stock markets
tumbling in December, the benchmark S&P 500 is up 17%, its
largest first-half increase since 1997.
"This has largely been a rebound from the fourth quarter,"
said Doug Cohen, managing director of portfolio management at
Athena Capital Advisors in Boston. "Since then, the market's
been able to climb the proverbial wall of worry."
Trump expressed hopes that his meeting with Xi at the Group
of 20 summit will be productive, but said he had not made any
promises about a reprieve from escalating tariffs. "Right now, the consensus is that there will be a six-month
reprieve from the tariff increases threatened by Trump. I think
that's more or less baked in to the markets," Cohen added.
"People don't want to be on the wrong side of good news."
Financial stocks led the gains in the S&P 500 and the Dow
after the big U.S. banks passed Federal Reserve's "stress test,"
with the central bank giving the companies a clean bill of
health. The S&P 500 Bank index .SPXBK was up 2.4%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 56.08 points,
or 0.21%, to 26,582.66, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 10.38 points,
or 0.35%, to 2,935.3 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
17.69 points, or 0.22%, to 7,985.45.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, all but technology
.SPLRCT and healthcare .SPXHC were trading in positive
territory.
Financials .SPSY , energy .SPNY and tariff-vulnerable
industrials .SPLRCI were the biggest percentage gainers.
Morgan Stanley MS.N advanced 1.6% following an exclusive
Reuters report that the broker would likely gain majority
control of its China securities joint venture in the latter half
of the year. Constellation Brands Inc STZ.N reported
better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its full-year
guidance due to healthy beer demand, sending its shares up 5.5%.
In economic news, consumer spending rose moderately in May
and prices edged higher, implying a slow-down in economic growth
and benign inflation pressures, providing the Federal Reserve
rationale for a possible interest rate cut in July. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
2.97-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.72-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 64 new highs and 34 new lows.