Wall Street heads for gains before the bell as Trump and Xi meet eye Trump-Xi summit
Wall Street is poised to open with gains Thursday following another record-setting day and developments emerging from U.S. President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
S&P futures rose 0.3%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7%. Nasdaq futures gained 0.2% early. The S&P and Nasdaq both hit record highs Wednesday.
Oil prices were effectively unchanged, with no clear ending to the Iran war after more than two months. Some were hoping the Trump-Xi meeting could bring results, after U.S. officials said Beijing could use its close economic ties with Tehran to press Iran to reopen the Strait or Hormuz.
On Thursday, the White House said Trump and Xi discussed enhancing U.S.-China economic cooperation. Both sides also agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened.
Brent crude, the international standard, was 19 cents lower at $105.44 per barrel. It was around $70 a barrel before the war in Iran started late February. That also came after the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that supply losses from the strait were “depleting global oil inventories at a record pace.”
Benchmark U.S. crude was down 16 cents to $100.86 per barrel.
Investors are also watching for updates on China’s imports of Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips, after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was confirmed to be a part of Trump’s China trip alongside other top executives including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook. The U.S. business leaders met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang Thursday afternoon.
Trump met with Xi at the Great Hall of the People and they talked about U.S.-China relations and Taiwan, but analysts did not expect major breakthroughs.
In equities trading, internet networking giant Cisco Systems jumped 15% after it reported double-digit sales and profit growth in the third quarter. The San Jose, California tech giant also raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $4 million from $3 million on the strength of AI infrastructure orders.
At midday in Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.5% after the U.K. reported its economy expanded at a faster-than-expected pace at 0.3% for March despite impacts from the war in Iran. France's CAC 40 rose 0.8% and Germany's DAX gained 1.3%.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index was down 1% to 62,654.05, after briefly reaching another all-time intraday record at above 63,700, partly supported by robust corporate results. South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.8% higher at 7,981.41 at a fresh record helped by technology-related stocks on the artificial intelligence boom.
The Shanghai Composite index lost 1.5% to 4,177.92. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng flatlined at 26,389.04.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1% to 8,640.70.
Taiwan’s Taiex was up 0.9%, and India’s Sensex climbed 1.1%.
