Stocks expected to open higher
U.S. stocks are looking at a positive open Monday as market participants continue to keep an eye on global trade news. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Friday said Washington and Beijing are making progress in their trade talks and are working toward a partial deal.
“China and the U.S. have made substantial progress in many aspects, and laid an important foundation for a phase one agreement,” the vice premier said while delivering a speech in Nanchang, Jiangxi.
Meanwhile, President Trump told reporters on Friday he thinks a U.S.-China trade deal will be signed by the time the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit takes place in Chile on November 16 and 17.
As of 5:20 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were up 20 points, or about 0.07% to 26,774. The S&P 500 futures rose 5.37 points, or around 0.18% to 2,993.62 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a gain of 19 points, or roughly 0.24% to 7,899.75.
UK lawmakers stall new Brexit deal
Lawmakers in the United Kingdom voted Saturday to delay Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. Johnson had intended to bring the deal to Parliament and ask lawmakers to back it in a so-called “meaningful vote”.
The prime minister has since been compelled to request the European Union for a delay to the withdrawal process until January 31, 2020. Johnson has repeatedly maintained that the UK will leave the EU on October 31, 2019 come what may.
He is now expected to push for a “straight up-and-down vote” on the deal Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Goldman Sachs banker charged over allegations of insider trading
Bryan Cohen, a Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) investment banker based in New York, is facing federal charges of insider trading related to an international scheme that allegedly raked in $2.6 million in illicit profits after he leaked nonpublic information to a trader about pending deals involving bank clients like Buffalo Wild Wings Inc and Syngenta.
Cohen, a vice-president at Goldman’s consumer retail division, is said to have shared the information with an unidentified trader who subsequently passed it on to George Nikas, who realized the illegal gains, according to a complaint from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The complaint shows that in exchange for the tips Cohen provided, he expected and received an unspecified amount of cash. Nikas has also been charged by prosecutors.
