Trump announces trade deal with EU following months of negotiations
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* U.S. to delay tariff hikes on Chinese imports by two weeks
* ECB cuts deposit rate by 10 bps to a record low
* U.S. Aug core consumer prices rise 0.3% vs. forecast 0.2%
* Futures up: Dow 0.22%, S&P 500 0.24%, Nasdaq 0.61%
(Updates prices, adds comments)
By Uday Sampath Kumar
Sept 12 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open higher on
Thursday after the United States delayed scheduled tariff hikes
on billions worth of Chinese imports, and the European Central
Bank cut interest rates in an effort to boost euro zone economic
growth.
In an effort to calm trade tensions that have battered
financial markets over the last year, President Donald Trump
said the United States would delay increasing tariffs on $250
billion worth of Chinese imports by two weeks as "a gesture of
good will".
The decision comes after China extended an olive branch by
exempting some U.S. anti-cancer drugs and other goods from
additional tariffs ahead of planned trade negotiations between
the world's two largest economies. "The market has been hyper-sensitive to any issues on trade
and if we get any whiff of a hint that there may be some
progress, that's viewed positively," said Scott Brown, chief
economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Trade-sensitive technology stocks rose premarket, with
chipmakers Micron Technology Inc MU.N , Advanced Micro Devices
Inc AMD.N and Nvidia Corp up between and 0.8% and 1.1%.
The so-called "FAANG" set of stocks were also higher, with
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O leading the gains.
However, lingering concerns of slowing global growth pushed
gold prices higher and lifted shares of miners such as Barrick
Gold Corp GOLD.N , AngloGold Ashanti Ltd AU.N and Gold Fields
Ltd GFI.N between 1.7% and 4.1%. GOL/
The ECB's approval of a fresh stimulus package of interest
rates cuts and a bond buying program comes ahead of a Federal
Reserve policy meeting next week where it is also expected to
cut rates. Even though the stimulus was widely expected, Brown said the
ECB "pulling the trigger" helped lift the mood on Wall Street,
but cautioned that it would not sway the U.S. Federal Reserve's
decision on interest rates next week.
Separately, data on Thursday showed U.S. underlying consumer
prices in August recorded the largest annual gain in a year,
while weekly jobless claims dropped to a five-month low. At 8:56 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 61 points, or
0.22%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 7.25 points, or 0.24% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 48.5 points, or 0.61%.
Among other stocks, Caterpillar Inc CAT.N and Deere & Co
DE.N fell after Wells Fargo downgraded both stocks to "market
perform".
Baker Hughes BHGE.N was down 2.7% after General Electric
Co GE.N began divestment of its stake in the oilfield services
provider, aiming to raise $2.7 billion. Activision Blizzard Inc ATVI.O rose 3.1% after two
brokerages raised their price targets on the stock.