US pre-open: Futures point to gains following strong Chinese data
Futures had stocks opening higher on Wednesday after a report revealed that China's services sector expanded at its fastest pace in three months in August.
As of 1200 BST, Dow futures were up 0.72%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.73% and 0.96% firmer, respectively.
The Dow Jones closed 285.26 points lower on Tuesday after Washington slapped a 15.0% tariff on over $125bn-worth of Chinese goods on Sunday, while China imposed its own new charges on some US products, although some reports indicated that Beijing was, in fact, proceeding more slowly.
However, things took a turn for the better on Wednesday when the Caixin/Markit services sector Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 52.1 last month — the highest reading since May.
Still in Asia, Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam announced the formal withdrawal of the proposed extradition bill that had ignited the protests which had roiled the Chinese-ruled city over recent months. The Hang Seng rocketed ahead by roughly 4% on Wednesday on the back of the news.
Heading across the pond, UK prime minister Boris Johnson's plans to withdraw Britain from the European Union on 31 October without a formal agreement were shot down by a cross-party alliance of lawmakers on Tuesday. Johnson immediately announced that he would push for a snap election.
Sterling edged up 0.2% on the news, climbing past $1.21 after falling to its lowest level since the 2016 'flash crash' during the previous session.
On the data front, mortgage application figures for the week ended 30 August will be released shortly, while international trade figures for July will be published at 1330 BST.
Elsewhere, Federal Reserve heads John Williams, Michelle Bowman, James Bullard, Charles Evans and Neil Kashkari will deliver speeches across the US.
In corporate news, American Eagle Outfitters, Palo Alto Networks and Slack will all report their latest quarterly results throughout the course of the day.