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Stock-index futures were slightly lower Thursday as doubts grew over prospects for a so-called phase one trade deal between the U.S. and China, pointing to a softer start for Wall Street a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each eked out a record finish.
How are major indexes trading?
Dow futures YMZ19, -0.15% lost 25 points, or 0.1%, to trade at 27,734, while S&P 500 futures ESZ19, -0.19% were off 4.35 points, or 0.1%, at 3,091.25. Nasdaq-100 futures NQZ19, -0.22% declined 14.25 points, or 0.2%, to 8,251.50.
On Wednesday, the Dow DJIA, +0.33% rose 92.10 points, or 0.3%, to end at a record 27,783.59, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.07% squeezed out a gain of 2.2 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 3,094.04, to also mark a record finish. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.05% missed out on a record of its own, falling 3.99 points, or less than 0.1%, to close at 8,482.10.
What’s driving the market?
The prospect of a U.S. – China trade deal remains the main factor sustaining a rally that has pushed U.S. stocks record highs in the past five weeks
“Equity markets are largely lower this morning as U.S.-China trade talks have stalled. Recently, there has been huge hype in relation to the progress that has been made, but now it appears the talks have hit a bump in the road,” said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, in a note.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday reported that U.S.-China talks had hit a snag over farm purchases, with Beijing balking at committing to a hard number in the text of the agreement while President Donald Trump has claimed China agreed to buy $50 billion of products a year. News reports have also highlighted a dispute over tariffs, with Beijing said to be insisting that existing tariffs be rolled back while the White House has resisted.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to testify before the House Budget Committee at 10 a.m. Eastern. Appearing Wednesday before the Joint Economic Committee, Powell reiterated that the Fed would need to see a material change in conditions to move policy.
In U.S. political news, investors brushed off the first day of a public impeachment inquiry in the House, which saw the acting ambassador to Ukraine testify that Trump asked about the status of Ukrainian investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and alleged election interference a day after pushing Ukraine’s president to initiate those probes.
The U.S. economic calendar features data on weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, with first-time applications for benefits expected to rise to 215,000 in the week ended Nov. 9 from 211,000 the previous week. Separately, the October producer-price index is forecast to show a rise of 0.3%.
In addition to Powell, Fed speakers set to make remarks include Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida at 9:10 a.m. Eastern. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is due to speak at 11:20 a.m. Eastern while New York Fed President John Williams is set to offer remarks at noon.
Stocks to Watch
Shares of Walmart Inc. WMT, +1.56% were up more than 3% in premarket action after the retail giant, and Dow component, topped third-quarter profit expectations and as same-store sales rose.
Shares of fellow Dow component Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO, +0.19% were off more than 5% in premarket dealings after it offered a disappointing outlook when it announced quarterly results after the closing bell on Wednesday.
See: Cisco confirms fears of a ‘broad-based’ slowdown in tech spending
Activist investor Carl Icahn is pushing for the proposed merger of Xerox Holdings Corp. XRX, +0.40% and HP Inc. HPQ, +0.00%. Icahn owns a 10.6% stake in Xerox and told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that he also owns a 4.24% stake in HP, valued at roughly $1.2 billion, that had not been previously reported.
