Investing.com – Wall Street looked set to continue its rally on Tuesday, as trade war worries between the U.S. and China eased.
The S&P 500 futures was up three points or 0.13% to 2,736.50 as of 6:44 AM ET (10:44 GMT) while Dow futures increased 41 points or 0.16% to 25,043.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 22 points or 0.32% to 6,938.00.
China said Tuesday it would cut import tariffs for automobiles and some car parts starting on July 1. Tariffs would be lowered to 15% from the current 20% to 25%, while tariffs on auto parts would be cut to 6%.
High tariffs on automobiles had been one of the complaints of the U.S. administration. The two countries are working towards a trade agreement, with the trade war between the U.S. and China currently “on hold,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday.
Meanwhile investors will be looking to the last big financial reports as earnings season continues to wind down on Tuesday. The last big retailers Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) and TJX Companies Inc (NYSE:TJX) are expected to report ahead of the morning bell, with reports from AutoZone (NYSE:AZO), HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) and others also expected later in the day.
General Electric (NYSE:GE) was among the top gainers in pre-market trading, rising 1.38% while Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) was up 4.54% and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) inched up 0.58%.
Elsewhere Nokia (HE:NOKIA) Corp ADR (NYSE:NOK) (HE:NOKIA) dipped 1.28% while Seadrill Limited (NYSE:SDRL) fell 9.26%.
In Europe stocks were mostly up. Germany’s DAX rose 12 points or 0.10% while in France the CAC 40 decreased five points or 0.07% and in London, the FTSE 100 was up 11 points or 0.15%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained three points or 0.10% while Spain’s IBEX 35 rallied 57 points or 0.57%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.22% to $1,293.70 a troy ounce while crude oil futures increased 0.25% to $72.53 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.17% to 93.30.