Pre-Market Update: S&P 500 and Nasdaq Futures Rise as Trump-Xi Summit Begins in China

TLDR

• US stock futures rose Thursday as President Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping opened a two-day summit in Beijing.
• The Dow futures climbed 0.4%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.3%.
• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record closing highs on Wednesday, driven by a rally in mega-cap tech stocks.
• Nvidia stock hit a record close Wednesday after CEO Jensen Huang joined Trump’s China trip.
• Cisco shares surged after beating quarterly earnings and announcing an AI-focused restructuring that will cut around 4,000 jobs.

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US stock futures moved higher on Thursday morning as President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping kicked off a two-day summit in Beijing, giving investors fresh hope for eased trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4%, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.3%. Contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 also rose 0.3%, building on a strong Wednesday session.

E-Mini S&P 500 Jun 26 (ES=F)

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both posted record closing highs on Wednesday. A rally in large-cap technology stocks pushed markets higher, even after a hotter-than-expected wholesale inflation reading gave some investors pause.

Trump arrived in Beijing with a high-profile group of executives in tow, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and Apple’s Tim Cook. The presence of major tech leaders made artificial intelligence a central topic alongside trade negotiations.

Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid pointed to the summit as a key driver of market sentiment. He wrote that “positive sentiment around the tech mega caps was a dominant theme,” citing the Mag-7 CEOs joining the China visit as a key factor.

Nvidia stock closed at a record high on Wednesday. Huang’s presence in Beijing alongside the president added to investor optimism around the chip maker.

Cisco Earnings Beat, Job Cuts Announced

On the corporate earnings side, Cisco shares jumped after the company reported quarterly results that beat analyst expectations. The networking company also unveiled an AI-focused restructuring plan that includes cutting around 4,000 jobs.

Earnings from Applied Materials and Klarna Group were also due Thursday, with investors watching both reports closely.

Oil and Treasury Markets in Focus

Oil prices edged higher as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remained disrupted. Brent crude futures rose 0.4% to $106.09 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate climbed 0.4% to $101.40 a barrel.

Trump and Xi agreed on the need to keep the Hormuz shipping lane open, according to reports from the summit. The development came as Iran-linked disruptions continued to pressure energy markets.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped one basis point to 4.46%, offering some relief after recent pressure from inflation data. The dollar held flat against a weighted basket of peer currencies.

US jobless claims data also crossed on Thursday morning, with claims rising slightly from the prior week. Stock futures held their gains following the release.

Investors remained focused on Beijing rather than Iran on Thursday, even as oil prices stayed elevated. The broader market tone stayed positive as the summit got underway.

The rally in tech stocks has been a defining theme for markets in recent weeks, with the Magnificent Seven group of large-cap tech names leading gains.

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