US pre-open: Futures higher as traders await China talks
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Friday 09 May 2025
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were slightly higher ahead of the bell on Friday as traders looked ahead to talks with Chinese officials over the weekend.
As of 1300 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.21%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.31% and 0.37% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed 254.48 points higher on Thursday after the White House announced it had struck a trade deal with Westminster, the first deal since Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs were unveiled on 2 April.
Trade was also in focus ahead of the bell on Friday, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer both set to meet with their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland over the weekend. The US has kept its 145% tariff rate on Chinese imports unchanged despite having already instituted a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries.
Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "Sentiment got an additional lift from the prospect of this weekend's trade talks between the US and China. While it is understood that these are preliminary discussions, investors are hoping that these negotiations will prove constructive, and lead to a timely resumption in bilateral trade. But it's also worth noting that equities have bounced sharply off the lows hit a month ago. There's a lot of good news already priced in. It's also the case that it takes time to reach trade agreements, and significant damage has already been done to global trade, with relations between the US and China both frosty and uncertain. In other words, it wouldn't take much of a disappointment for investors to start reducing their exposure to equities."
While no major data points were scheduled for release on Friday, speeches from a number of Federal Reserve bankers will be in focus, with Adriana Kugler, John Williams, Austan Goolsbee, Christopher Waller, Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack all set to speak throughout the course of the day.
In the corporate space, Pinterest shares were up double-digits after issuing stronger-than-expected Q2 guidance, while Coinbase was in the red on the back of softer-than-expected Q1 revenues.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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