Wall Street stock futures rose, and the dollar firmed against safe haven peers on Monday over signs of progress in U.S.-China trade talks. In Geneva, U.S.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed there is substantial progress in trade discussions, while Chinese officials said the sides had reached an important consensus and agreed to launch a new economic dialogue forum.
A joint statement is expected later on Monday, though it was notable that neither side mentioned tariff rates specifically. Investors are hoping the White House will soon cut the 145% tariff on Chinese goods, even if only back to the 60% first flagged by President Donald Trump.
Although on his part, Trump seems bent on keeping broad tariffs in place no matter what, which will drag on economic growth and push up prices. Markets reacted by pushing S&P 500 futures up 1.4%, while Nasdaq futures climbed 1.9%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures firmed 0.9%, while FTSE futures added 0.3% and DAX futures 0.8%. Japans Nikkei edged up 0.3%, while South Koreas gained 0.6%. Chinese blue chips firmed 0.8%, while the yuan crept up 0.2% to 7.2243 per dollar.
Data over the weekend showed factory-gate prices there posted the steepest drop in six months in April, while consumer prices fell for a third month, underlining the pressure on the local economy. Stocks ended the week on a quiet note Friday as investors awaited weekend trade talks between the U.S. and China.
The dollar added almost 0.5% on the safe haven yen to reach 146.03, though it was off an early five-week peak of 146.31. The euro dipped 0.2% to $1.1224, and the dollar index edged up 0.2% to 100.60. Markets further trimmed the outlook for easing on Monday, with Fed fund futures down between 3 and 7 ticks.
The chance of a rate cut in June is now only 17%, down from more than 60% a month ago, while a July move is seen as a 59% chance.
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