US pre-open: Futures point to another solid session as Trump calls off Mexican tariffs
Wall Street stocks looked set to continue their recent rally on Monday, with futures pointing to gains at the open after the Dow enjoyed its best week since November last week.
At 1130 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.4%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were 0.3% and 0.4% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed 263 points higher on Friday, continuing its solid performance after a disappointing jobs report raised the prospect of the Federal Reserve easing monetary policy.
Earlier in the week, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell had indicated that the central bank would be open to easing monetary policy in order to prop up the economy, boosting sentiment as a result.
Also helping to underpin sentiment was news that President Donald Trump has shelved plans to impose tariffs on Mexico after reaching a deal with the country on plans to stem the flow of illegal immigration.
Trump said he had "full confidence" that Mexico would crack down on migration from Central America.
However, he also warned America's Southern neighbour on Sunday that if it failed to cooperate, "we can always go back to our previous, very profitable, position of tariffs".
Elsewhere, trade troubles between the US and China were ongoing, as Beijing cautioned global technology companies last week that complying with a ban on telco Huawei Technologies would lead to sector-wide complications.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Sunday that the President would make a decision regarding further Chinese tariffs after meeting with his counterpart in Beijing later in June.
"If China wants to move forward with the deal, we're prepared to move forward on the terms we’ve done," he said.
"If China doesn’t want to move forward, then President Trump is perfectly happy to move forward with tariffs to re-balance the relationship," added Mnuchin.
Data out earlier showed that China's overall trade surplus hit $41.65bn in May, higher than economists had expected.
On the corporate front, United Technologies shares were up ahead of the bell after it announced an all-stock merger with defence giant Raytheon. Raytheon was also trading higher pre-market.
Monday looked set to be a pretty quiet session in terms of economic data, with just April's JOLTS Job Openings figures on the calendar at 1500 BST.