U.S. stock index futures rose Thursday, as investors assessed the announcement of a major new trade deal and the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting.
At 06:55 ET (10:55 GMT), Dow Jones futures rose 357 points, or 0.9%, S&P 500 futures climbed 60 points, or 1.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 275 points, or 1.4%.
Wall Street recorded a positive session on Wednesday, helped by gains from chip giant Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) after Bloomberg reported that the Trump administration was planning to scale back export curbs on artificial intelligence chips.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.4%, the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite gained 0.3%, and the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.7% higher.
"Major" trade deal coming Trump has said that a trade deal with the United Kingdom will be "full and comprehensive," as the two countries were tipped to soon sign an agreement.
"The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday. "Because of our long time history and allegiance together, it is a great honor to have the United Kingdom as our FIRST announcement. Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!"
The New York Times (NYSE:NYT) had earlier reported that the deal will be with Britain, citing three people familiar with the plans. Details of the agreement were not immediately clear, although trade talks between the U.S. and the U.K. have covered lower British tariffs on American goods, and vice-versa.
3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads. Thursday’s trade deal will be the first after Trump in early-April announced a barrage of "reciprocal" trade tariffs against major U.S. trading partners. He had later announced a 90-day exemption from the tariffs amid widespread backlash.
The U.K. was not subject to Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, although it still faces a 10% universal duty, as well as his steep sectoral tariffs.
This followed news that U.S. officials were set to meet their Chinese counterparts over the weekend for trade talks, suggesting that the period of extreme trade uncertainty could be coming to an end.
Fed keeps rates steady, Powell flags heightened risk The Fed kept interest rates steady as widely expected on Wednesday, but warned that risks of higher inflation and unemployment had increased, further clouding the economic outlook in the face of Trump’s trade tariffs.
Chair Jerome Powell said it was unclear if the economy would continue to grow steadily, or shrink due to a potential spike in inflation.
Powell flagged heightened uncertainty over just what Trump will do with his tariff agenda, and signaled that the central bank will not make any changes until the outlook was clear.
That said, the Fed chief also noted that the U.S. economy remained relatively resilient.
Packed earnings week continues This packed earnings week continues Thursday, with the likes of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) scheduled to report before market open. Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) is set to release its earnings after market close, along with others like travel company Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE).
Elsewhere, Applovin (NASDAQ:APP) soared in premarket trade after the mobile technology company topped expectations with its latest quarterly results and announced that it’s agreed to sell its mobile gaming business.
Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM), however, dropped sharply after the semiconductor name issued disappointing guidance.
Crude rises with China and U.S. to talk Oil prices rose Thursday, supported by hopes that upcoming talks between the U.S. and China will lead to a deal between the two largest crude consumers in the world.
At 05:35 ET, Brent futures climbed 0.9% to $61.69 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 1.1% to $58.72 a barrel.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will meet with China’s top economic official over the weekend in Switzerland for negotiations over a trade war that is disrupting the global economy.
