A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain As Trump Delays China Tariff Hike

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, after President Donald Trump announced plans to delay an increase in China tariffs. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for January is schedule for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on wholesale inventories for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for February is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 163 points to 26,165.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 13.5 points to 2,804.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 49 points to 7,136.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.04 percent to trade at $67.15 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.3 percent to trade at $57.43 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.2 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.3 percent and German DAX 30 index climbed 0.4 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.2 percent, while French CAC 40 Index gained 0.4 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.5 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.5 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 5.6 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.95 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Macquarie upgraded Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd NCLH from Neutral to Outperform.

Norwegian Cruise Line shares rose 0.7 percent to $55.75 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Roche Holdings AG RHHBY announced plans to acquire Spark Therapeutics Inc ONCE for $114.50 per share in cash.
• Barrick Gold Corp GOLD proposed an all stock merger with Newmont Mining Corp NEM.
• Armstrong World Industries Inc AWI reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
• General Electric Company GE agreed to sell its BioPharma business to Danaher Corporation DHR for $21.4 billion.