Stock futures rise as bank shares rally, Trump-Xi meeting ahead
U.S. stock index futures were higher Friday as bank shares got a boost after the release of the Federal Reserve’s stress test results while investors looked ahead to a key meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Around 6:55 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a gain of 77 points at the open. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were also higher. J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all rose more than 1.5% in the premarket. Goldman Sachs and Bank of America gained more than 2% each. Their gains come after they passed the Fed’s annual stress test and got approval to boost dividends and share repurchase programs. Goldman hiked its quarterly dividend by nearly 50% while J.P. Morgan raised its dividend by 10 cents. Procter & Gamble also gave futures a jolt, rising 1.4% after an analyst at Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. The analyst said Procter “has been a clear benefactor of the recent acceleration in end-market growth, and we expect the market to continue to grow in the 3%-plus range in the future.” But Wall Street’s gains were kept in check as traders awaited the Trump-Xi trade meeting scheduled for Saturday. The world’s two largest economies have maintained firm stances going into the weekend, with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce calling on Washington to cancel its pressure and sanction measures on Huawei and other Chinese companies, while Trump reiterated a threat to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports if talks fail. Speaking to CNBC on Thursday, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said that China and the U.S. must come to a truce in their dispute. “It will have a devastating effect to the global economy. That doesn’t mean there can’t be changes to the way the trade agreements are being written,” he said. Friday’s session marks the end of a stellar month for stocks. The major indexes were all up more than 6% through Thursday’s close. The Dow was on pace for its biggest June gain since 1938. The S&P 500 was set to post its best June performance since 1955.
On the data front, there will be personal income figures, consumer spending and a core personal consumption expenditures price index released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Stocks in Asia Pacific dipped on Friday as investors watched for developments from the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, where U.S. President Donald Trumpand Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet amid the ongoing trade standoff. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.29% to close at 21,275.92. The Topix index also shed 0.14% to end its trading day at 1,551.14. Mainland Chinese stocks slipped on the day, with the Shanghai compositelower by 0.6% to 2.978.88 and the Shenzhen component falling 0.66% to 9,178.31. The Shenzhen composite also shed 0.959% to 1,562.42. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined more than 0.3%, as of its final hour of trading. Over in South Korea, the Kospi ended its trading day 0.17% lower at 2,130.62. Oil prices were little changed on Friday as traders awaited any update on the Sino-U.S. trade war from a scheduled weekend meeting of the two countries’ presidents at the G20, and eyed next week’s OPEC gathering. Brent crude futures were up 15 cents, or 0.2%, at $66.70 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 14 cents, or 0.3%, at $59.60 a barrel. Gold prices edged up on Friday on doubts that the highly anticipated meeting between the United States and China would ease trade tensions, driving bullion to its best month in three-years. Spot gold was up 0.3% at $1,413.67 per ounce as of 0945 GMT. Gold has risen nearly 8.3% so far this month, on track for its biggest monthly percentage gain since June 2016. With nearly 1.2% gained so far this week, the metal is also set to post its sixth consecutive weekly rise. U.S. gold futures climbed 0.3% to $1,415.80.