Investing.com - Futures tied to Canada’s main stock exchange rose on Wednesday, as investor sentiment was bolstered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to back away from threats to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and indications that Trump may be softening his adversarial trading stance with China.
By 07:05 ET (11:05 GMT), the S&P/TSX 60 index standard futures contract had risen by 20 points, 1.4%.
Toronto Stock Exchange’s composite index jumped by 297.12 points, or 1.2%, on Tuesday, notching its highest closing level since April 3.
Underpinning the increase in the prior session were indications that Trump and White House officials may be easing their approach to trade negotiations with China.
Trump told reporters that U.S. levies on the world’s second-largest economy would fall after a deal is secured, although he noted that duties would not decline all the way to zero. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said that while discussions with Beijing would be a "slog", he believes the two countries can cool down escalating trade tensions.
U.S. stock futures advance
U.S. stock index futures pointed higher, suggesting an extension to the previous session’s gains as investors digested less hawkish comments from Trump on China and the Federal Reserve, as well as more corporate earnings.
At 07:17 ET, Dow Jones Futures rose 753 points, or 1.9%, S&P 500 Futures gained 134 points, or 2.5%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 537 points, or 2.9%.
The main Wall Street indices registered strong gains on Tuesday, helped by a mix of improving sentiment, positive earnings, and a heavy measure of bargain buying, with the S&P 500 rallying 2.5%, the NASDAQ Composite gained 2.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.7%.
Trump appeared to edge away from scathing remarks about Powell on Tuesday, saying that he has "no intention" of firing the Fed leader.
Heading into the Easter weekend, markets had been fretting that Trump may be preparing to dismiss Powell for not moving fast enough to slash interest rates. Suggestions from a top White House adviser that officials were considering whether to sack Powell rattled already-jittery investors as well.
But Trump seemed to mollify these fears, adding that he would only like to Powell "be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates."
In the corporate sector, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock jumped over 6% premarket, after the electric vehicle manufacturer reported first-quarter profits at its core auto business that were better than rock-bottom estimates. Also contributing to the positive tone was the news that CEO Elon Musk plans to reduce the time he devotes to the Trump administration from next month and spend more time concentrating on running his many companies.
Crude gains
Oil prices rose, continuing the previous session’s positive tone after the U.S. imposed fresh sanctions on Iran.
At 07:16 ET, Brent futures climbed 0.9% to $68.01 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.9% to $64.24 a barrel.
Both contracts settled nearly 2% higher on Tuesday.
The U.S. issued new sanctions targeting Iranian liquefied petroleum gas and crude oil shipping magnate Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh on Tuesday.
This action is part of Washington’s broader strategy to curtail Iran’s energy revenues, which are believed to fund destabilizing activities in the Middle East.
Gold slides from all-time peak
Gold prices fell, retreating from record highs, after Trump touted potentially lower trade tariffs on China and tempered his tirade against the Fed.
The yellow metal clocked heavy overnight losses on Tuesday as investors pulled out of havens and piled into a risk-on rally in equities in the wake of Trump’s comments. A mild rebound in the dollar also weighed on gold, possibly making bullion more expensive for overseas buyers.
Spot gold dropped 1.5% to $3,331.58 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in June dipped 2.2% to $3,343.75/oz by 07:15 ET. Spot prices still remained close to an all-time peak hit on Tuesday.