By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are set to open higher Tuesday, continuing the recent record run, as China and the U.S. reaffirmed their commitment to their trade deal.
At 7:10 AM ET (1110 GMT), S&P 500 Futures traded 14 points, or 0.4%, higher, the Dow Futures contract rose 185 points, or 0.7%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 7 points, or 0.1%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4% to hit a new 6-month high at the close Monday, while the S&P 500 added 1% and the Nasdaq Composite index climbed 0.6%, both reaching new all-time highs.
Helping the tone Tuesday were reports that top U.S. and Chinese officials had held constructive talks aimed at resolving concerns around the Phase 1 trade deal reached between the two countries in January.
China's commerce ministry said in a statement there had been "constructive dialogue", while the U.S. Treasury declared that "both sides see progress".
Tensions have been fraught between the globe’s two economic superpowers over a variety of factors, including the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the new security laws in Hong Kong and China’s ambitions in the South China Sea.
Such issues had raised fears that the trade deal could founder as a result, particularly as hard data show that China has bought only a fraction of what it promised to buy from the U.S. in the deal it signed in January.
Adding to the positive tone was the news that the number of new U.S. coronavirus cases fell 17% last week, the fifth straight week of declines, according to Reuters data.
In corporate news, Apple’s four-for-one stock split has resulted in changes in the makeup of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM), Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) and Honeywell International (NYSE:HON) are set to join the prestigious index as of Aug. 31, with Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Raytheon Technologies (NYSE:RTX) leaving.
Exxon Mobil is the oldest continual member of the Dow, having joined in 1928 as Standard Oil. Following Exxon's exit, Chevron (NYSE:CVX) will be the index's last remaining energy company.
The retail sector has more earnings scheduled Tuesday, with Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) expected to report strong numbers, while the economic data slate includes new home sales for July as well as August consumer confidence figures.
Oil prices edged higher Tuesday, amid large production cuts in the U.S. Gulf Coast due to Tropical Storms Marco and Laura, with the latter now forecast to become a major hurricane before landfall on the south coast of the U.S.
Investors now await the American Petroleum Institute's analysis of crude oil supply, due later in the day.
U.S. crude futures traded 0.3% higher at $42.75 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 0.7% to $45.98.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,933.35/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 1.1825 after a slightly stronger-than-expected Ifo business survey in Germany.