Investing.com - U.S. futures were modestly higher on Wednesday, as investors looked ahead to economic data and monitored global trade.
The S&P 500 futures was up over five points or 0.18% to 2,756.50 as of 6:44 AM ET (10:44 GMT) while Dow futures increased 96 points or 0.39% to 24,981.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose nine points or 0.14% to 7,189.00.
Trade negotiations remain in focus, with China offering to purchase almost $70 billion in U.S. agriculture and energy products if the U.S. does not impose tariffs against Chinese imports.
The two largest economies in the world have come head-to-head in recent months over trade and tariff negotiations, prompting worry of a full-scale trade war.
Meanwhile the European Union announced retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. would go into effect in July, after President Donald Trump went ahead with planned metal tariffs against key U.S. allies.
Luxury car maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 1.68% in pre-market trading after optimistic comments from CEO Elon Musk, while social media firm Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) jumped 2.40% and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) gained 0.20%, and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) PLC ADR (NYSE:RDSa) (LON:RDSa) surged 1.53%.
Elsewhere Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) fell 1.16% amid news that it had given user data to Chinese firms, including Huawei. The telecommunications firm was flagged by the U.S. for national security due to its close ties with the Chinese government.
In economic news, U.S. trade data is released at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT). Investors will be looking closely for any sign that recent trade disputes between the U.S. and China have impacted trade.
In Europe stocks were mostly up. Germany’s DAX rose 40 points or 0.31% while in France the CAC 40 increased half a point or 0.01% and in London, the FTSE 100 was up 26 points or 0.35%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost one point or 0.04% while Spain’s IBEX 35 rallied 62 points or 0.65%.
In commodities, gold futures were down 0.23% to $1,299.20 a troy ounce while crude oil futures fell 0.44% to $65.23 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.26% to 93.61.