US Stock Index Futures Slipped, Pointing to a Negative Open

WASHINGTON, D.C. – At nearly 2:50 am ET on Thursday, US stocks index futures slipped, pointing to a negative open.

One of the major stock market indexes in the US, Dow, futures declined to about 25 points Thursday morning, pointing to a negative open of over nine points. During the previous trading session, Dow Jones ended with an all-time high.

S&P futures, which also closed to an all-time high on Wednesday, as well as Nasdaq also closed marginally lower.

The market focus is mainly set based on global trade developments. Market investors are still keenly monitoring the extent of the progress, especially with the trade talks between the two largest economies in the world.

The trade deal between the US and China has been putting a lot of impact on the market. The talks between the two countries are also said to have hit a bump when it comes to agricultural purchases. On a report made by Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, it stated that Beijing is refusing the White House’s request to restrain enforcement mechanisms and tech transfers. According to the report, China is a bit hesitant about giving a commitment to certain US farm purchases.

US President, Donald Trump, also commented on the issue during the policy speech he did early this week. Although the president hinted that both the US and China is reaching to close the phase one of the trade agreement, he didn’t offer any firm update on the trade talk’s progress.

Both Beijing and Washington have enforced tariffs on each other’s goods, valuing over billions of dollars since early in 2018. It resulted in conflicting consumer sentiment and the financial markets.

For the corporate market, companies, including Brookfield Asset Management, Viacom, and Walmart, are set to release their quarterly figures before the market closes. After the market closes, companies, including Applied Materials, Nvidia, and Aurora Cannabis, are also scheduled to report their latest earnings figures for the quarter.

On data news, The Labor Department is expected to release documents on its PPI (producer price index) for the month of October at around 8:30 am ET. The latest jobless claims for the week is also poised to be released at the same time.

Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, is also expected to testify on the economic outlook in the House Budget Committee around 11:00 am ET. According to Powell’s prepared statement on Wednesday, he said that the track of Fed interest rates is not expected to change, given that the economy continues its growth momentum.