U.S. stock futures flitted in a flat-to-low range in Asian trade on Thursday as investors digested mixed cues from a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
S&P 500 Futures fell 0.1% to 6,920.75 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.1% to 26,234.0 points by 00:47 ET (04:46 GMT). Dow Jones Futures fell 0.1% to 47,753.0 points.
Markets were also digesting the prospect of no more interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, as well as a host of middling megacap tech earnings.
Trump flags positive meeting with Xi; Nvidia Blackwell not discussed Trump said he had an "amazing, outstanding" meeting with China’s Xi on Thursday, but offered little clear insight into how Washington and Beijing will temper their trade ties.
The president said he saw a trade deal with China as "pretty soon," and that there were few stumbling blocks between the two. He did not specify when the deal would be signed, but said that he will visit China in April.
Trump said there was "no roadblock at all" over rare earths, and that Washington will sign yearly deals with China to maintain supplies of the critical minerals.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said that he did "discuss chips" with Xi, and said that China will be "talking to NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and others about taking chips."
3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads. Trump added that he will also speak to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on the matter. But he added that discussions with China did not include Nvidia’s advanced Blackwell line.
Trump said that China had agreed to resume its purchases of U.S. agriculture goods, especially soybeans, but did not provide specific figures.
The U.S. President said he will cut his fentanyl tariffs on China to 10%, effective immediately, stating that the country will "work very hard" to stop the flow of the illegal substance into the United States.
Other U.S. tariffs against China will remain unchanged, standing around 47%, Trump told reporters.
Fed cuts rate but flags uncertainty about next move Wall Street logged a mixed session on Wednesday after the Fed trimmed its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75% to 4.00%, marking its second consecutive reduction, but signaled uncertainty about further easing.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell pushed back against expectations that another rate cut in December was assured, saying it was “far from” a foregone conclusion.
He cautioned that the central bank was “navigating in the fog,” citing mixed economic signals and uneven progress on inflation. The comments tempered optimism in markets that had priced in a follow-up reduction before year-end.
"Inflation remains a concern, with the sense that tariffs could yet materially come through, but the jobs outlook looks more challenged," ING analysts said in a note.
3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads. The analysts said that they still expect another rate cut in December, adding, "It will take at least two more rate cuts next year and further dollar weakness to achieve the required platform for growth."
Wall Street clocked a mixed reaction to Powell’s comments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.2%, while the S&P 500 closed little changed and the NASDAQ Composite posted modest gains of 0.6%.
Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta earnings in focus Attention also turned to quarterly results from several megacap technology firms that reported after the bell.
Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) revenue beat expectations, buoyed by steady advertising growth and resilience in its cloud business, sending shares up more than 7% in after-hours trading.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported robust cloud demand, but its stock fell over 3% as investors focused on rising costs.
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) slid 8% after warning of higher capital expenditures next year and booking a one-time charge of nearly $16 billion.
The mixed results underscored investor caution toward the “Magnificent Seven” stocks that have driven most of the market’s gains this year.
These results are set to be followed on Thursday by iPhone-maker Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and e-commerce titan Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).
