Investing.com - U.S. futures rose on Wednesday as upbeat Chinese and European data helped ease fears of a protracted slowdown in the global economy.
In China the Caixin Services purchasing managers' index rose to a 14-month high, hinting at a stabilization in the world's second-largest economy, while in Europe the Eurozone services PMI hit its highest rate since December.
Dow futures rose 110 points or 0.4% by 6:40AM ET (10:40 GMT), while S&P 500 futures gained 14 points or 0.5% and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures was up 41 points or 5%.
Closer to home, China’s vice premier Liu He is in Washington to continue trade discussions with U.S. officials. The U.S. and China have resolved most of their issues, but still have differences over the fate of existing U.S. tariffs and enforcement mechanisms to ensure that the deal is adhered to, the Financial Times reported late Tuesday.
“Ninety per cent of the deal is done, but the last 10 per cent is the hardest part, it’s the trickiest part and it will require trade-offs on both sides,” Myron Brilliant, executive vice-president for international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told the FT.
Semiconductor companies rose in premarket trading, with Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) up 2.9% and Micron (NASDAQ:MU) gaining 2.1%. JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) inched up 0.6%, while Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) gained 0.6% and Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO)was up 0.9%.
GameStop (NYSE:GME) slumped 9.1% after the company reported a decline in same-store sales, while Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) slipped 1.4% after Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) cut its rating to hold due to order backlog concerns, according to TheStreet.
On the economic front, ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) private payrolls come out at 8:15 AM ET (12:15 GMT), while the ISM service sector activity survey is at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).
In commodities, gold futures inched up 0.1% to $1,297.25 a troy ounce, while crude oil gained 0.2% to $62.70 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.4% to 96.57.