Pre Stock Market News: Higher Open Likely For US Markets: Oil Down

Higher open likely for the U.S. markets Thursday after the main equity futures indices climbed after goodwill gestures in the Sino-U.S trade war.

Futures on the Dow Jones, S&P and Nasdaq looked up.

At 02:10 a.m. ET, Dow futures indicated a positive open of more than 78 points.

Around 6:19 a.m. ET, Futures on the S&P Index was up 0.1 percent.

The symbolic steps by China and the U.S. to ease tensions before the face-to-face talks seemed to have helped sentiment as investors are now looking for the monetary policy decisions from the U.S Fed and Europe’s ECB as well.

On data, the consumer price index for August will be out at around 8:30 a.m. ET. The latest weekly jobless claims will also follow.

The core U.S. consumer price index barring food and energy is expected to show an increase of 2.3 percent in the 12 months through August, according to Bloomberg.

Kroger and Duluth will report earnings before the bell while Broadcom will release quarterly earnings after the market close.

Oil price falls

The oil price fell on Thursday. There was more than 2 percent crash on Wednesday after reports said U.S. President Donald Trump is considering easing sanctions on Iran.

A report from Bloomberg said Trump discussed the Iran issue with his aides and is keen on a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani later in September.

Brent crude fell 2.5 percent to $60.81 while U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 2.9 percent to end the session at $55.75.

Oil prices had rallied in September supported by declines in global inventories and trade tensions between the United States and China.

Asian markets close higher

Asian stock markets were on a high Thursday as investors pinned new hopes on the U.S.-China trade front. According to stock market news, two developments lifted the investor's sentiments.

One was China’s action of exempting 16 American products from its additional tariff list. The second was President Donald Trump’s decision to delay the U.S. tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods from October 1. They will now kick in from October 15 “as a gesture of goodwill.”

Trump explained in a tweet that the decision was made in consideration of the 70th-anniversary celebrations of the People’s Republic of China.

Chinese stocks jumped on Thursday. The Shanghai composite rose 0.75 percent. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell by 0.2 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.75 percent while the Topix added 0.72 percent. Australia’s /ASX 200 gained added 0.25 percent.

Indian shares ended lower on Thursday snapping the bull run of the last five days. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 0.45 percent or 166 points while the broader Nifty50 index was down 0.48 percent.

European stocks shed early gains and slipped below the flat line on Thursday morning as investors looked up to the meeting of European Central Bank (ECB) on rate cut and stimulus.

The Stoxx 600 index in the European stock market fell 0.1 percent in mid-morning trading. The early gains in the markets were lost after a report by the German economic institute said a recession is likely in Europe’s largest economy.

Gold price gained on Thursday and wiped off the losses ahead of the European Central Bank meeting. The revival of risk appetite and a perceived thaw in U.S.-China trade tensions blocked the bullion’s advance.

Spot gold added 0.4 percent to prices at $1,503.00 per ounce at 0807 GMT while the U.S. gold futures rose 0.5 percent to $1,510.80.