US pre-open: Stocks to nudge higher amid signs of Sino-US progress

US stock futures pointed to a marginally firmer open on Wall Street on Thursday as investors digested the latest news on Sino-US relations and looked to the start of the first-quarter earnings season.

At 1240 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all 0.1% higher.

Market participants were still mulling over the release of the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB, said the minutes were "mildly pleasing" for stocks, with rate-setters showing little inclination to resume their hiking cycle anytime soon while also hinting at the possibility of rate cuts.

"To summarise, these events weren’t spectacular by any means but they do both serve to reaffirm the notion that the end of accommodative policy from the world’s leading central banks may have been exaggerated and while this remains the case then the year-to-date rally for stocks looks well supported in the near term," he said.

Feds funds futures are pricing in a 50.2% chance of a 25 basis points cut by the end of the year.

Trade relations between the US and China were also in focus again as US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the two nations have agreed on an enforcement mechanism for their potential trade deal.

"We’ve pretty much agreed on an enforcement mechanism," Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC. "We’ve agreed that both sides will establish enforcement offices that will deal with the ongoing matters. This is something both sides are taking very seriously."

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that China has agreed to open its cloud-computing sector to foreign companies in a bid to sweeten a trade deal with the US.

Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG, said: "One of the key hurdles to completing the US-China trade negotiations has been overcome according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

"With the bulk of the trade negotiations across the line, the focus has been on those final issues, such as the protection of intellectual property, and quite how the deal would be enforced. With both sides planning to set up enforcement offices to ensure that the terms are adhered to, negotiations are clearly moving closer to a breakthrough that could provide a substantial boost for markets and the yuan."

Events across the pond were also likely to garner attention after the EU agreed to give the UK a Brexit extension to 31 October, with a progress review in June.

The start of the first-quarter earnings season will kick off on Friday, with results due from JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

On the macroeconomic front, the producer price index and initial jobless claims are at 1330 BST.