US pre-open: Futures point to strong open as China hopes to bring a 'calm' end to trade war

Futures had stocks opening higher on Thursday as China's desire to calmly wrap up its trade war with the US gave investor sentiment a much-needed boost.

As of 1200 BST, Dow futures were pointing to gains of 1.01% at the open, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices coming out the gate 0.96% and 1.27% firmer, respectively.

Stocks on Wall Street had finished higher on Wednesday with investors apparently to shrugging off ongoing trade fears and a flashing recession indicator.

Following on a late rally during the previous session, futures turned positive on Thursday after China's commerce ministry stated that it wanted to bring an end to its protracted trade dispute with the US in a "calm" manner and said it was not interested in escalating tensions at the moment and that the two sides remained in contact with the aim of continuing negotiations, perhaps in September.

China's comments seemingly did their part to soothe investors even as concerns regarding the possibility of a global recession remained in focus.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "The markets managed to muster some rebounding energy on Thursday, clinging to any positive hints regarding the trade war.

"While Trump’s team weren't particularly enthusiastic in their most recent comments – Stephen Mnuchin said that Washington is 'planning' for a Chinese visit at some indeterminate point in the future, while Peter Navarro was keen to state that 'it's unlikely anything quick will happen' considering the 'structural basis' of the problems – investors appear to have taken heart from the morning's commerce ministry briefing from Beijing."

Other City-based analysts however were a tad more skeptical, like Oanda's Crag Erlam, who in a research note sent to clients said: "The unfortunate reality is that these comments are likely more hot air but with everything that's happening at the moment, they do provide rays of hope."

On the data front, the latest figures on initial jobless claims, second-quarter US gross domestic product and wholesale and retail inventories will be published at 1330 BST, while pending home sales for July will be released at 1500 BST.

In terms of corporate news, Best Buy, Dollar General and Dell will all post earnings throughout the course of the day.