U.S. futures were up slightly on Wednesday, as investors kept an eye on trade war developments between the U.S. and China and waited for the release of Apple’s latest smartphone.
The S&P 500 futures rose 1 point or 0.05% to 2,891.25 as of 6:50 AM ET (10:50 GMT) while Dow futures gained 10 points, or 0.04%, to 26,012.0. Meanwhile tech heavy NASDAQ 100 futures increased 14 points, or 0.19%, to 7,526.50.
Investors are closely watching trade developments after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to impose tariffs on almost all Chinese imports, or about $467 billion in goods.
China is planning to ask the WTO for permission to impose sanctions on the U.S. at a meeting next week. Chinese officials had previously stated they would retaliate on any trade moves from Washington.
Technology stocks will be in focus on Wednesday, as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to release its latest smartphone model. Shares in the tech giant were up 0.55% in premarket trading. Meanwhile Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose 0.53% while Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) gained 0.88% and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) inched up 0.43%.
Elsewhere semiconductor Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) slumped 3.44% and Nokia Corp (NYSE:NOK) fell 1.12%.
In economic news, the price producer index is released at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT), with analysts expecting a price increase of 3.2% over the prior year.
In Europe stocks were mixed. Germany’s DAX rose 21 points or 0.18% while in France the CAC 40 was up 25 points or 0.49% and in London the FTSE 100 decreased 13 points or 0.18%. Meanwhile the pan-European EURO STOXX 50 gained 2 points or 0.07% while Spain’s IBEX 35 inched down 11 points or 0.12%.
In commodities, Gold futures fell 0.03% to $1,201.80 a troy ounce while crude oil futures rose 0.81% to $69.81 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, increased 0.04% to 95.09.
