NEW YORK: US stock index futures climbed today, signaling renewed buying appetite on Wall Street after President Donald Trump dialed back his threat of tariffs on European countries, while investors shifted their focus to fresh economic data.
The main US indexes rebounded on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P 500 posting its biggest one-day percentage gain in two months, after Trump stepped back from imposing tariffs as leverage to seize Greenland, suggesting instead that a deal was in sight to end a dispute over the Danish territory.
Trump’s trade threats had sent shivers through global markets on Tuesday, though buyers quickly returned to stock markets following his U-turn.
The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, slid further from a two-month peak touched on Tuesday.
At 7.03am, Dow E-minis were up 125 points, or 0.25%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 32.5 points, or 0.47% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 191.5 points, or 0.75%.
Economic data in spotlight
With geopolitical tensions simmering, investors are turning their focus to a packed docket of US economic readings due later in the day: final estimate of third‑quarter GDP, weekly jobless claims, and the personal consumption expenditures index – the Federal Reserve’s favoured inflation gauge.
The numbers land just ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting, where officials are broadly expected to stand pat on rates amid still‑sticky inflation and evidence of economic resilience.
At the same time, markets are weighing uncertainty over who Trump will choose to lead the central bank next.
He has renewed his criticism of chair Jerome Powell for not cutting rates more aggressively and has said a decision on the next Fed chief will come soon.
The earnings season is also picking up pace, and could test market sentiment as firms detail how consumer demand, cost pressures and a bumpy macro backdrop shaped their year-end performance.
GE Aerospace slipped marginally in premarket trading despite forecasting its annual profit above estimates, while Kinder Morgan gained 0.5% after topping quarterly profit expectations.
McCormick slid 6% after projecting 2026 profit below estimates.
Procter & Gamble slipped nearly 1% as its quarterly revenue fell just short of expectations.
Abbott Labs reports later in the day, while chipmaker Intel, up 47% so far this year, is expected to post results after the bell.
US-listed shares of Alibaba Holdings rose 3.5% after Bloomberg News reported the Chinese e-commerce firm is preparing to list its chipmaking arm, T-Head.
Venture Global jumped 9.9% after the LNG firm said an arbitration tribunal had ruled in its favour in a dispute with Spain’s Repsol.
