US STOCKS-Futures higher as robust Chinese data eases growth worries

Reuters| Washington DC | United States

Updated: 04-09-2019 18:32 IST | Created: 04-09-2019 18:27 IST

Image Credit: Pixabay

U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday after encouraging data from China allayed concerns of slowing global growth in the backdrop of an ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China.

A private survey showed activity in China's services sector expanded at the fastest pace in three months in August, a boost to the world's second-largest economy struggling to reverse a prolonged slump in its manufacturing sector. Wall Street's three major indexes fell on Tuesday after the United States and China imposed new tariffs on each other's goods over the weekend and on data showing weak U.S. factory activity in August.

Markets have struggled in August as escalating trade tensions and the inversion of a key part of the U.S. yield curve, often seen as a sign of recession, drove investors away from risky assets, pushing the S&P 500 1.8% lower for the month. The benchmark is now 4% away from its record high hit in late July.

Intel Corp, Qualcomm Inc, and Micron Technology Inc rose between 0.7% and 3% in premarket trading. Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Bank of America Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co were also trading higher.

Investors will also keep a close watch on the monthly jobs report, which is due on Friday, to gauge the likelihood of another interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve at its mid-September meeting. At 7:17 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 195 points, or 0.75%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 22.25 points, or 0.77% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 72.75 points, or 0.96%.

Among other stocks, Tapestry Inc shares rose 2.5% after the Coach handbag maker said Chief Executive Officer Victor Luis was stepping down. Activision Blizzard Inc gained 2.2% after brokerage BMO Capital Markets upgraded the videogame publisher's stock to "outperform."

Tyson Foods Inc shares fell 5.1%, after the United States' biggest meat processor cut its 2019 earnings forecast, citing a litany of causes including a recent fire at its Holcomb slaughterhouse and volatility in the commodity market. On the data front, a report from the Commerce Department is expected to show U.S. trade deficit in July narrowed to $53.5 billion from $55.2 billion in June. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Goldman Sachs Group IncCommerce DepartmentInvestorsIntel CorpNasdaqChinaFederal ReserveslaughterhousewatchUSJPMorgan Chase & CoS&PBank of America CorpBMO Capital Markets

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