Investing.com – U.S. futures surged on Tuesday, as comments from China’s president eased investor jitters over a potential trade war between the two largest economies in the world.
The S&P 500 futures was up 29 and a half points or 1.13% to 2,648.50 as of 6:44 AM ET (10:44 GMT) while Dow futures increased 273 points or 1.14% to 24,285.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 102 points or 1.57% to 6,599.0.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday he would open the country’s economy and lower import tariffs on automobiles. He also promised to enforce the legal intellectual property of foreign firms, which was a point of contention for U.S. President Donald Trump.
The comments helped soothe investor worry over an escalating trade war between the two countries. However none of the comments made by Xi were new, and had been promised in some form or other in the past. Xi also did not give a time frame from when the new measures would take place.
Investors are closely watching technology stocks, as Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to appear before a U.S. Senate committee at 2:15 PM ET (18:00 GMT).
Facebook was up 0.70% in pre-market data, while Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) surged 3.57% and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) increased 1.65%. Telecommunications firm Nokia (HE:NOKIA) Corp ADR (NYSE:NOK) gained 1.85% and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) rose 1.16%.
Elsewhere Chinese education firm Hailiang Education Group Inc (NASDAQ:HLG) fell 1.44% while solar firm Sunrun Inc (NASDAQ:RUN) was down 2.32%.
In economic news, the producer price index (PPI) is released at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT) while wholesale trade is out at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT). Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic is also expected to speak at Harvard University on fair housing in the U.S.
In Europe stocks were up. Germany’s DAX rose 136 points or 1.11% while in France the CAC 40 increased 36 points or 0.69% and in London, the FTSE 100 was up 38 points or 0.53%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 25 points or 0.76% while Spain’s IBEX 35 surged 34 points or 0.35%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.10% to $1,338.70 a troy ounce while crude oil futures rose 1.18% to $64.17 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was flat at 89.53.