Stock futures moved higher Thursday morning after China took a more conciliatory tone on trade, saying it hopes “to meet the U.S. halfway.”
Futures had been sinking earlier in the morning after China threatened retaliation, saying it would take “necessary countermeasures” if the U.S. follows through with the latest round of tariffs set to go into effect on Sept. 1.
But later in the morning, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying put out a second statement that sent futures soaring.
“We hope the U.S. side will meet China halfway and implement the consensus reached by the two leaders during their meeting in Osaka, and look for mutually acceptable solutions through dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect,” Hua said, according to CNBC. “On the basis of equality and mutual respect, we will find mutually acceptable solutions through dialogue and consultation.”
Dow futures hit their low point of 25,233 at 6:38 a.m. EDT before bouncing up to 25,618 by 9:04 a.m. EDT.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also had similar bounces and futures in the three big markets were all up 0.7% just before the opening bell.
Earlier in the morning, China’s State Council Tariff Committee said the latest threat of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump “seriously violated” a compromise reached by the two country’s leaders at June’s G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan.
Trump ended that ceasefire with a threat to slap 10% tariffs on the final $300 billion worth of Chinese imports beginning Sept. 1, only to backtrack on that threat this week. Trump announced that some additional tariffs would be delayed until December and even removed a number of items from the list of future tariffs, including cell phones, laptop computers, video game consoles, certain toys, computer monitors and certain footwear items and clothing — items essentially on many people’s Christmas wish lists.
Trump said the move was geared to stop any negative impact on holiday shopping, tweeting that it “helps China more than us, but will be reciprocated” on Wednesday.
