Investing.com – U.S. futures pointed to a higher opening bell on Monday amid reports that the U.S. and China are closing in on a deal that would end a year-long dispute on trade.
The deal could be formally signed around March 27, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
While details still need to be worked out, Washington and Beijing are closing in on agreements around China increasing imports of U.S. agricultural and chemical products, lowering tariffs on U.S.-made goods, and sanction relief. There is less detail on issues such as safeguarding intellectual property rights and ending state subsidies of selected companies and industries.
The S&P 500 futures rose 7 points or 0.26% as of 6:40 AM ET (11:40 GMT) while Dow futures gained 70 points or 0.27% and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up 31 points or 0.44%.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was among the top gainers in premarket trading, gaining 1% after news on Sunday that the luxury car maker will unveil its Model Y SUV on March 14. AT&T (NYSE:T) inched up 0.36% amid news that it plans to revamp CNN’s digital arm. Meanwhile, General Electric (NYSE:GE) rose 0.8%, while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) rose 0.5% and Jd.Com (NASDAQ:JD) jumped 1.6%.
News that broke late on Friday about Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s intentions to launch a new chain of stores selling groceries and personal care products may put pressure on other retailers this morning. Kroger (NYSE:KR) fell 4.5% on Friday but appears to be stabilizing in premarket trade, up 0.3%. Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is indicated flat and Target (NYSE:TGT) is up 0.3%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.09% to a one-week high of 96.53, as U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of the Federal Reserve and the strong dollar.
"We have a gentleman that likes a very strong dollar at the Fed," Trump said at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Saturday. "I want a strong dollar, but I want a dollar that's great for our country not a dollar that is so strong that it is prohibitive for us to be dealing with other nations."
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.8% to $1,288.45 a troy ounce, while crude oil was up 0.6% to $56.15 a barrel.