Trump reveals date and location for signing U.S.-China trade deal
U.S. stocks on Thursday looked poised to start the first trading day of 2020 on a positive note, after President Donald Trump said he will sign the initial trade deal struck with China on January 15 at the White House.
The president also promised to fly to Beijing to start discussions on the second phase of the trade agreement at a later date.
“I will be signing our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15,” Trump wrote on his Twitter account Tuesday. “The ceremony will take place at the White House. High level representatives of China will be present. At a later date I will be going to Beijing where talks will begin on Phase Two!”
At 5:00 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were seen rising 160.5 points, or 0.56% to 28,668.5. The S&P 500 futures advanced 18.12 points, or 0.56% to 3,249.12 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 63.63 points, or 0.73% to 8,815.88.
Oil rises on cooling trade tensions
Meanwhile, oil prices flew higher Thursday on optimism that easing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing will spur demand.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up $0.16, or around 0.26%, at $61.22 per barrel. International Brent crude oil futures were at $66.28 a barrel, up $0.28, or about 0.42%.
China eases monetary policy to spur economic growth
Elsewhere, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said on Wednesday it will lower the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 50 basis points for all banks beginning Jan. 6. The move is aimed at supporting the “development of the real economy and reduce the actual cost of social financing.”
It’s expected to inject around 800 billion yuan ($115 billion) into the financial system. The current required reserve ratio for big banks and smaller ones is 13% and 11%, respectively. PBOC has trimmed the reserve ratio eight times since early 2018 to boost economic growth.
