Xi Jinping says China wants to make a trade deal
U.S. equity futures were slightly higher on Friday morning, as Chinese President Xi Jinping sought to cool trade tensions with Washington, calming investor nerves after worries that talks between the world’s top two economies could collapse sent stocks down in the previous session.
Xi retaliated on Friday that China wants to reach a phase one trade agreement with the U.S. on the basis of mutual respect and equality. “We didn’t initiate this trade war and this isn’t something we want,” The Chinese leader told representatives of an international forum in Beijing.
“When necessary, we will fight back, but we have been working actively to try not to have a trade war,” he added.
The blue-chip Dow futures were up 44 points, or about 0.16% to 24,792 at 4:45 a.m. ET. Futures on the S&P 500 rose 4.88 points, or around 0.16% to 3,108.88 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were seen gaining 21.75 points, or roughly 0.26% to 8,296.25.
Tesla unveils its $39,900 Cybertruck
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) on Thursday evening debuted its all-electric pickup, the Cybertruck, at an event in Los Angeles. The large, triangle-like vehicle has a stainless-steel body and can go from zero to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said its base version will start at $39,900 while the top-line model will retail at $69,900. Production will begin in 2021.
Musk claimed the vehicle’s glass is “armored.” However, an on-stage demo failed when a metal ball thrown by Tesla head of design Franz von Holzhausen at two windows left them badly damaged.
Shares of Tesla were trading 3.33% lower to $343 in premarket hours Friday.
U.S. House committee passes bill to legalize marijuana
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday cleared a bill intended to legalize marijuana at the federal level. It will now be presented to the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives for a vote, then to the Republican-controlled Senate.
Cannabis investors cheered the bill’s committee approval. Shares of Aurora Cannabis (NYSE: ACB), Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC), Aphria (NYSE: APHA) ended Thursday’s regular session with gains of 18.18%, 15.02%, and 9.51%, respectively.
Meanwhile, Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) shares rallied 7.22% to close the session at $22.43.
