US pre-open: Futures point to early gains as trade remains in focus
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Friday 22 Nov 2019
(Sharecast News) - US futures had Wall Street indices opening higher on Friday as stocks look set to attempt to snap the three-day losing streak that halted a historic rally.
As of 1225 GMT, Dow futures were up 0.18%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures had the indices opening 0.19% and 0.32% higher, respectively.
The Dow Jones closed 54.80 points lower on Thursday following on from declines in the previous session as a result of uncertainty regarding the possibility of a trade deal between Washington and Beijing being reached.
However, sentiment got a boost ahead of the bell on Friday after Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing wanted to work towards a trade deal with the US. He also warned that China was not afraid to "fight back".
IG analyst Josh Mahony said: "Markets appear to have found some sense of positivity in a week that has seen its fair share of pessimism over the growing feeling the trade talks may have ground to a standstill.
"However, despite expectations that Trump will sign a pro-activist Hong Kong bill, we have heard from Xi Jinping overnight who stated that they still hope to put together a phase one deal. Ultimately, we will need to see a shift on the US side, with the removal of tariffs key to getting that deal across the line."
On the data front, IHS Markit's preliminary composite, manufacturing and services PMIs for November will be published at 1445 GMT, while the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for November will follow at 1500 GMT.
The Kansas City Federal Reserve's manufacturing activity index will be released at 1600 GMT.
In corporate news, Foot Locker and JM Smucker were slated to report earnings on Friday.
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