Investing.com – U.S. futures pointed to a higher opening bell on Thursday, as investor worry of a trade war between the U.S. and China eased.
The S&P 500 futures was up nine points or 0.35% to 2,656.25 as of 6:45 AM ET (10:45 GMT) while Dow futures increased 37 points or 0.15% to 24,302.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 34 points or 0.52% to 6,616.50.
All three indices closed higher on Wednesday as fear of a global trade war between the U.S. and China eased. Investors were upbeat after comments from White House chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow that there was no trade war and the two countries were merely in a “negotiation.”
The fact that none of the tariffs have any time deadline contributed to investor calm.
Technology stocks also rallied in pre-market trading on Thursday. Shares of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) rose 2.61% after CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with journalists, and said the global “delete facebook” movement had no meaningful impact on users or advertisers.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) inched up 0.58% while Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) increased 0.95% and Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) jumped 1.39%.
Elsewhere chipmaker Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) fell 1.08% while Monsanto (NYSE:MON) was down 1.78%.
In economic news, jobless claims and international trade is expected at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT). Two Federal Reserve officials are also expected to deliver speeches on Thursday, with Chicago Fed President Charles Evans speaking at the bank’s annual risk conference and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaking in Florida.
In Europe stocks were up. Germany’s DAX rose 210 points or 1.76% while in France the CAC 40 increased 88 points or 1.72% and in London, the FTSE 100 was up 84 points or 1.21%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 61 points or 1.83% while Spain’s IBEX 35 surged 165 points or 1.74%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.64% to $1,331.60 a troy ounce while crude oil futures fell 0.22% to $62.23 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rallied 0.11% to 89.88.