Investing.com – U.S. futures were higher on Monday as investors wait for the outcome of trade talks between the U.S. and China.
The S&P 500 futures rose 5 points, or 0.18%, to 2,857.25 as of 6:50 AM ET (10:50 GMT) while Dow futures were up 54 points, or 0.21%, to 25,728.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures increased 22 points, or 0.30%,to 7,410.0.
American and Chinese officials are expected to talk in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday, shortly before new U.S. charges on Chinese goods take effect. News of the meeting eased investors concern over a trade war between the two biggest economies in the world.
Investors are keeping an eye on developments in Turkey and movements of the Turkish lira. The lira continued to fall after the country’s credit rating was cut further into junk territory on Friday and following reports of shots being fired at the U.S. embassy in Ankara.
Chinese e-commerce company Jd.Com Inc Adr (NASDAQ:JD) rose 2.11% in premarket trading amid reports that it is launching an open blockchain platform. Meanwhile Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 0.49%, while Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) increased 1.27%.
Elsewhere, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) slumped 2.26% while PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ:PEP) was down 0.10% after news that it is buying drink-machine maker SodaStream International Ltd for $3.2 billion. SodaStream (NASDAQ:SODA) surged 10.32%.
In Europe stocks were higher. Germany’s DAX rose 121 points or 1.00% while in France the CAC 40 increased 34 points or 0.65% and in London, the FTSE 100 was up 38 points or 0.51%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 23 points or 0.71% while Spain’s IBEX 35 inched up 34 points or 0.36%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.79% to $1,193.60 a troy ounce while crude oil futures fell 0.35% to $64.98 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.24% to 96.23.