Investing.com – U.S. Futures pointed to a higher opening bell on Tuesday as investor worry over a global trade war eases.
The S&P 500 futures rose 13 points or 0.49% to 2,731.75 as of 6:40 AM ET (11:40 GMT) while Dow futures increased 160 points or 0.64% to 245,024.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures was up 43 points or 0.63% to 6,921.0.
Markets have been on edge since last week when U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States would impose 25% import tariffs on steel and 10% tariffs on aluminum.
The proposal has been widely criticized, with the U.S. facing backlash from world leaders. Leading Republicans have also pressured Trump to reconsider the plan. While uncertainty lingers, some investors feel the tariffs are all talk, as Trump tweeted that he would be willing to be flexible on trade with Canada and Mexico if they agreed to a “fair” North American Free Trade Agreement.
Trump is expected to finalize the tariffs later in the week.
IT firm Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ:HMNY), which owns MoviePass, was among the biggest gainers in pre-market trading, rising 5.12%. Streaming site Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was also higher, increasing 1.00% while Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) was up 0.98%.
Elsewhere Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) fell 9.39% and WPP (LON:WPP) PLC ADR (NYSE:WPP) was down 1.81%.
In economic data, factory orders are scheduled for release at 10:00 AM ET (15:00 GMT).
Investors will also be listening closely to speeches from key Federal Reserve officials. New York Fed President William Dudley will speak at the USVI Nonprofit Leaders Breakfast Roundtable, while Fed Governor Lael Brainard is in New York at a Money Marketeers Forum, and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan will be at CERAWeek in Houston.
In Europe stocks were up. Germany’s DAX rose 144 points or 1.20% while in France the CAC 40 increased 42 points or 0.82% and in London, the FTSE 100 was up 74 points or 1.05%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 28 points or 0.84% while Spain’s IBEX 35 jumped 65 points or 0.68%.
In commodities, gold futures were up 0.47% to $1,326.10 a troy ounce while crude oil futures rose 0.54% to $62.91 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.27% to 89.72.