Stock futures are higher, the morning after the Dow Industrials pared back losses after a selloff following the resignation of President Trump’s economic adviser Gary Cohn.
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Dow Jones futures are up by 0.09%. S&P 500 futures are higher by 0.12%. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.27%.
Stocks on Wednesday pared heavy losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 82.76 points, or 0.33%, to 24,801.36, recovering more than 250 points from session lows. The S&P 500 ticked 1.32 points lower, or 0.05%, to 2,726.80. The Nasdaq Composite climbed for the fourth straight session, rising 24.64 points, or 0.33%, to 7,396.65.
Asian markets rose on news U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs may exclude certain key partners, easing fears of a possible trade war.
According to Reuters, on Wednesday night, a White House official said President Trump plans to offer Canada and Mexico a 30-day exemption from planned tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which could be extended based on progress in NAFTA talks.
Trump was expected to sign a presidential proclamation to establish the tariffs during a ceremony on Thursday or Friday.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.5 percent after that country’s 4Q GDP was revised higher to an annualized 1.6% versus economists’ median estimate for 0.9% growth and the preliminary reading of a 0.5 percent expansion.
Hong Kong stocks gained 1.4%, helped by strong trade data from China.
China’s Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.5 percent at 3,288.
In Europe, the European Central Bank is holding a meeting. No change in monetary policy is expected.
“A number of things could change between now and the June meeting that could force the ECB to increase the pace of tightening or further delay the end of QE and clues about such a move will come from the meetings and/or the speeches they give in between them,” said Craig Erlam, Senior Market Analyst at Oanda. “The ECB has also made it clear that any policy changes will be communicated very gradually so I would imagine we will see small differences at almost every meeting for the rest of the year so as to well prepare us for the end of QE. That may not be particularly exciting but it could well move markets.”
On the U.S. economic calender, the report on weekly jobless claims will be released. The Thomson Reuters estimate is for 220,000 people to have filed for first time jobless benefits. This comes ahead of Friday’s release of the February Employment report.
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