Futures point to a higher open
Wall Street looks likely to extend gains on Thursday after China announced it would cut tariffs on $75 billion of imports from the U.S. including auto parts, in response to American reductions as part of their phase-one trade deal.
China’s Finance Ministry released a statement saying that 10% tariffs on some U.S. goods would be slashed to 5%, while duties on other products will be reduced to 2.5% from 5%, beginning Feb. 14.
The decision to lower tariffs is also seen as an effort by Beijing to inspire investor confidence amid the coronavirus virus outbreak that has infected more than 28,000 people and claimed 563 lives.
As of 4:20 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures advanced 134.5 points, or 0.46% to 29,375.5. The S&P 500 futures were up 12.38 points, or 0.37% to 3,347.38 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gained 51.25 points, or 0.55% to 9,432.75.
Casper prices IPO at low end of expectations, valuing mattress maker at $476 million
Meanwhile, mattress maker Casper Sleep Inc on Wednesday priced its initial public offering of 8.35 million shares at $12 each, well below its original range between $17 and $19 that it had sought just over a week ago.
According to multiple reports, the company lowered the price range to $12 to $13 on Wednesday morning, suggesting it had struggled to interest investors. The offering will raise as much as $115.2 million and values the company at $476 million.
Casper submitted paperwork to go public last month. Its shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CSPR on Thursday.
Uber, Twitter earnings on watch
In other news, Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) is expected to post fourth-quarter earnings at $0.29 a share on revenue of $996.74 million ahead of the bell today. At the time of writing, shares of the social media company were up 1.59% at $33.92 apiece in premarket trade.
After the closing bell, ride hailing giant Uber (NYSE: UBER) will publish its fourth quarter results. Analysts expect the company to report adjusted loss of $0.55 a share on revenue of $3.7 billion. Uber shares were up 0.79% to $37.10 each in premarket hours.
Other companies scheduled to report today include Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO), Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) Philip Morris (NYSE: PM), T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS), Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN), and Bristol-Myers (NYSE: BMY).