China and US trade negotiations continue --- CGTN

China and US trade negotiations continue --- CGTN

U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on news that China and the United States will begin trade talks later this week in Switzerland. The Treasury and U.S. Trade Representative's office announced that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will travel to Geneva on May 8 to meet with China's top economic official. The discussions will center around de-escalation, marking an initial step towards trade talks. This meeting is the first confirmed between the countries since President Donald Trump announced tariffs as high as 145% on China, which were met with retaliatory rates of 125% from Beijing. The escalating rhetoric between the two countries has roiled markets and added uncertainty to the economy. Therefore, the opening of talks is likely to be a relief to investors.

At 6:40 a.m. ET, futures linked to the blue-chip Dow rose 0.60%, while broad S&P 500 futures added 0.53% and Nasdaq futures gained 0.51%. Investors also looked forward to the outcome of the Fed's policy meeting at 2 p.m. ET. No rate move was expected, but people were keen to hear what Fed Chair Jerome Powell thought of the economy, inflation, jobs, and tariffs. Most economists expected him to say the Fed would keep rates steady until it could get a clearer picture of where tariff rates might settle and for how long. A wait-and-see approach may spur criticism from Trump, who has been calling for the Fed to lower rates immediately. "The Federal Reserve appears dead set to keep policy unchanged on Wednesday, with chair Powell set to defy pressure from the White House and signal that the FOMC is in no rush to lower rates again," said Matthew Ryan, Head of Market Strategy at global financial services firm Ebury.

Additionally, several companies reported disappointing results. Super Micro Computer missed expectations for the third fiscal quarter and gave a weak outlook for the current three-month period. Advanced Micro Devices' quarterly results missed analysts' forecasts. Wynn Resorts reported disappointing results for the first three months of the year.

The article was originally published by USA TODAY.

References:
[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-stock-futures-rise-news-104553511.html
[2] https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/index/S-P-GSCI-COPPER-INDEX-2-46869179/news/Trump-Announces-Trade-Agreement-With-Britain-2-49881345/