Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Thursday, August 16:
1. China and U.S. to Resume Trade Talks
China said it will hold a fresh round of trade talks with the United States in Washington later this month, offering a glimmer of hope for progress in resolving a conflict that has set world markets on edge.
A Chinese delegation led by Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen will meet with U.S. representatives led by Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs David Malpass, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website.
The upcoming meeting, which is lower-level compared with four previous rounds of talks, comes at the invitation of the U.S., according to the statement.
The world's two largest economies have implemented several rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs on each others goods since the start of the year and have threatened further tariffs on exports worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
2. Fresh Trade Talks Spur Relief Bounce in Global Stocks
Global stocks were mostly higher, following the positive overnight developments between the U.S. and China on the trade front.
Asian shares ended mostly lower, but pared some of the steeper losses seen earlier amid easing fears of a trade war. The Shanghai Composite Index closed down around 0.6%, having earlier fallen by as much as 1.9%.
In Europe, nearly all of the region's major bourses were trading higher, with the exception of Italy, as appetite for riskier assets improved on hopes of a trade war thaw.
Italy's FTSE MIB sank 1.6% to its lowest level since April 2017 as shares in motorway operator Atlantia (MI:ATL) plunged 25% following the deadly collapse of a motorway bridge in Genoa earlier this week.
On Wall Street, U.S. stock futures surged, suggesting a rebound from the previous session’s sharp decline.
The blue-chip Dow futures indicated a gain of 105 points, or around 0.4%, by 5:45AM ET, the S&P 500 futures rose 11 points, or around 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to an increase of 42 points, or roughly 0.6%.
Major indexes fell sharply on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 posting its biggest percentage drop since late June.
3. Walmart Reports Earnings
Walmart is one of the last notable names slated to report fiscal second-quarter results before U.S. markets open, as the earnings season continues to wind down.
The retail giant is expected to report earnings of $1.22 per share on revenue of $126.03 billion, according to estimates.
U.S. same-store sales are expected to rise 2.2%, excluding gas.
Investors will be closely watching the results to see whether its efforts to take on Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) in the online retail space have paid off.
Shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) were trading little changed in premarket.
Other companies reporting results ahead of the opening bell include JC Penney (NYSE:JCP), and MSG (NYSE:MSG).
After the close, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), and Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) are on deck.
4. Dollar Slips From 13-Month High
Away from equities, the U.S. dollar eased from 13-month highs against a basket of major currencies, as risk aversion eased on news that a Chinese delegation will travel to the U.S. in late August to hold trade talks.
The U.S. dollar index was down 0.15% to 96.45, pulling back from 96.76 on Wednesday, which was the most since June 27, 2017.
In the bond market, U.S. Treasury prices ticked lower, pushing yields higher across the curve, with the benchmark 10-year yield ticking up to 2.88%, while the Fed-sensitive 2-year note rose to 2.625%.
On the data front, investors will get the weekly report on initial jobless claims as well as data on manufacturing activity from the Philly Fed and a report on housing starts and building permits for the month of the July.
Elsewhere in foreign exchange markets, the euro pulled away from Wednesday’s 14-month lows, with EUR/USD advancing 0.2% to 1.1370.
Many emerging market currencies, such as the South African rand and Russian rouble also rose, clawing back some of Wednesday's losses thanks to easing fears over the knock-on effects from a slide in the Turkish lira.
The lira rose for a third straight session against the U.S. dollar supported by reports that Qatar would invest $15 billion in Turkey.
China's offshore yuan, which has been rough barometer of risk sentiment and fallen in recent months on concerns about the impact on its economy of the trade conflict with the United States, gained 0.7% to 6.9001. That compared to the 6.9500 touched overnight.
5. Copper Leads Commodities Rebound
In commodity markets, industrial metals, such as copper, rebounded after a hammering on Wednesday as the potential for a breakthrough in the trade standoff between China and the U.S. boosted appetite for riskier assets.
Copper futures jumped 1.8% to $2.606 a pound, the biggest increase in more than three weeks. The red metal slumped to a 14-month low of $2.552 a day earlier.
Gold was also higher at $1,186.30 an ounce, having dropped to an overnight low of $1,167.10, a level not seen since January 2017.
Oil prices also recouped some of the previous day's losses, though gains were limited amid worries over a slowdown in global demand.