US Shares Surge on Easing Geopolitical Concerns

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to move back to the upside following the weakness seen in the previous session.

The upward momentum on Wall Street comes as President Donald Trump sought to downplay concerns about an attack on Syria.

?Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!? Trump said in a post on Twitter.

He added, ?In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our ?Thank you America???

Following the rally seen in the previous session, stocks moved back to the downside during trading on Wednesday.

The Dow slid 218.55 points or 0.9 percent to 24,189.45, the Nasdaq dipped 25.27 points or 0.4 percent to 7,069.03 and the S&P 500 fell 14.68 points or 0.6 percent to 2,642.19.

The weakness on Wall Street came amid geopolitical concerns after President Donald Trump warned Russia “get ready” for missiles being launched at Syria.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest decrease in consumer prices in the month of March.

The Labor Department said the consumer price index dipped by 0.1 percent in March after rising by 0.2 percent in February. Economists had expected consumer prices to come in unchanged.

Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer price index rose by 0.2 percent March, matching the increase seen in the previous month. The uptick in core prices matched economist estimates.

Later in the day, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which showed members of the central bank discussed the need to slow down the economy.

Some member said that “monetary policy eventually would likely gradually move from an accommodative stance to being a neutral or restraining factor for economic activity,” the minutes said.

At the March meeting, the Fed raised its benchmark federal-funds rate by a quarter percentage point to between 1.5% and 1.75%.