Wall Street Opens Higher on Treasury Secretary Comments
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Tuesday following the lackluster performance seen in the previous session.
Stocks may benefit from renewed optimism about U.S.-China trade talks after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said negotiations between the two economic superpowers would resume in two weeks in Washington.
Mnuchin said during an interview with Fox Business Network on Monday that he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.
The Treasury Secretary also revealed during a meeting at the United Nations that the U.S. had called off a trip by Chinese officials to U.S. farms last week, although the news seemed to come as a surprise to President Donald Trump.
?We didn?t want there to be any confusion,? Mnuchin explained. ?They?re going to reschedule that at a different time. The timing didn?t work.?
Reports the Chinese trade negotiators had canceled the scheduled visit to U.S. farm states contributed to a sharp drop by stocks last Friday.
Stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading session on Monday as traders seemed reluctant to make any significant moves. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
The major averages eventually ended the session mixed. While the Dow inched up 14.92 points or 0.1 percent to 26,949.99, the Nasdaq slipped 5.21 points or 0.1 percent to 8,112.46 and the S&P 500 edged down 0.29 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,991.78.
The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as a lack of major U.S. economic kept some traders on the sidelines.
Reports on consumer confidence, new home sales, durable goods orders and personal income and spending are likely to attract attention in the coming days.
Traders also continued to express uneasiness about the global economic outlook following the release of disappointing European economic data.
Survey data from IHS Markit showed the euro area private sector was close to stalling at the end of the third quarter. The flash composite output index unexpectedly fell to a 75-month low of 50.4 in September from 51.9 in August.
Germany’s private sector contracted the most since late 2012 as a downturn in manufacturing deepened and service sector growth lost momentum.
Waning optimism about a potential U.S.-China trade deal also weighed on the markets after the Chinese cut short a visit to the U.S. last week and President Donald Trump indicated he is not in a hurry to reach an agreement.
Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader markets.
Gold stocks showed a significant move to the upside, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging up by 2.3 percent. The rally by gold stocks came amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal.
Semiconductor and oil service stocks also saw some strength on the day, while transportation and healthcare stocks moved to the downside.
