Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Thursday, February 21:
1. U.S., China Start to Outline Deal to End Trade War
The United States and China have started to outline commitments in principle on the stickiest issues in their trade dispute, as the two sides race to reach a deal that would avert a tariff increase on Chinese goods by March 1.
Negotiators are drawing up six memorandums of understanding on structural issues: forced technology transfer and cyber theft, intellectual property rights, services, currency, agriculture and non-tariff barriers to trade, according to two sources familiar with the progress of the talks.
The developments mark the most significant progress yet toward ending a seven-month trade war between the world's two largest economies.
2. U.S. Futures Point to Higher Open
U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open, as signs that the U.S. and China are working to resolve their protracted trade dispute boosted sentiment.
At 5:30AM ET (10:30 GMT), the blue-chip Dow futures were up 23 points, or about 0.1%, the S&P 500 futures tacked on 2 points, or around 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a gain of 10 points, or roughly 0.1%.
Elsewhere, European stocks held steady near four-month highs, although a number of poorly received updates from the likes of utility Centrica (LON:CNA), engineer Technip (PA:FTI) and shipper Moeller-Maersk (CO:MAERSKb) weighed.
Earlier, Asian shares closed mixed. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.15%, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3%.
3. Last Batch of Earnings
As earnings season draws to a close, there are a few notable names slated to report quarterly results.
Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ), Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN), Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL), and Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) are all set to report during premarket hours.
Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC), Dropbox (NASDAQ:DBX), Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD), Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU), Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ), and Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) are slated to post results after the bell.
4. U.S. Durable Goods Orders
On the data front, the economic calendar is busy today.
The highlight will be the December report on durable goods orders at 8:30AM ET (13:30 GMT). The consensus forecast is for an increase of 0.8% last month. Core orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, are forecast to rise 0.2%.
There will also be weekly jobless claims data as well as the Philly Fed manufacturing survey both due at 8:30AM ET (13:30 GMT).
Investors will also keep an eye on the latest survey on private sector activity from Markit Economics due at 9:45AM ET (13:45GMT), as well as existing home sales data at 10:00AM ET (15:00 GMT).
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.15% at 96.43.
Meanwhile, in the bond market, U.S. Treasury prices held steady, with the benchmark 10-year yield standing at around 2.66%.
Read more: Fed Minutes Show Policymakers Set On Ending QT Later This Year: Darrell Delamaide
5. EIA's Weekly Oil Supply Report
In commodity markets, the U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its official weekly oil supplies report for the week ended Feb. 15 at 11:00AM ET (16:00 GMT).
The data come out one day later than usual due to Monday's Presidents Day holiday.
Analysts expect the EIA to report a gain of around 3.0 million barrels in crude supplies. If confirmed, it would be the fifth straight weekly build in domestic oil inventories.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 5 cents, or roughly 0.1%, at $57.21 a barrel, not far from their 2019 high of $57.55 reached the previous day.
International Brent crude oil futures were at $66.97 per barrel, down 11 cents, or about 0.1%, but still within sight of its 2019 peak of $67.38.
-- Reuters contributed to this report