Investing.com - U.S. futures pointed to a slightly higher opening bell on Monday, as chatter continued over the U.S. and China making a temporary trade deal.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said on Saturday said "substantial progress" had been made in talks and argued that ending the trade war will benefit both the U.S., China and the world. Meanwhile U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped the deal would be signed by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in mid-November, and that he was confident it would stop the introduction of more tariffs.
The two countries initially shook hands on a temporary truce 10 days ago, as they work towards a more comprehensive deal.
Nasdaq 100 futures gained 23 points or 0.3% by 7:09 AM ET (11:09 GMT), while Dow futures rose 29 points or 0.1% and S&P 500 Futures ticked up 6 points or 0.2%.
Earnings remained in focus, with results from Halliburton (NYSE:HAL), Lennox (NYSE:LII), and PetMed Express (NASDAQ:PETS) before the opening bell, among others.
Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPE) jumped 2.6%, while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) inched up 0.4% and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was up 0.7%, while Citigroup (NYSE:C) gained 0.5%.
Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) continued to decline 2.6% after Bernstein lowered its price target on the alternative meat company on Friday. eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) slipped 0.9%, while Boeing (NYSE:BA) slumped 2.1% after Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) and UBS both downgraded the company to 'neutral' from 'buy' after news that Boeing pilots had known about issues with the 737 MAX's flight control system as long ago as 2016.
Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported cited an internal survey that found one in three employees felt pressured regarding safety-related measures. The survey has caused lawmakers to put pressure on the airplane maker, as its 737 Max remains grounded for the rest of the year.
In commodities, gold futures inched up 0.1% to $1,495.05 a troy ounce, while the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell to its lowest in three months before bouncing a little to 96.968. Crude oil futures fell 0.6% to $53.55 a barrel.