Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Spike As Bessent Touts 'Substantial Progress' In China Trade Talks: Analyst Sees 'Huge' Positive For Markets

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated that the speed with which the U.S. and China could reach an agreement showed that perhaps the differences were not as large as initially thought.

U.S. stock futures surged higher in Asian trading hours early Monday as signals pointed to an easing of the trade impasse between the U.S. and China. 

Following two days of negotiations between the two parties in Geneva, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the talks were "productive" and that "substantial progress" was made over the weekend, ABC News reported.

Bessent reportedly said more details would be forthcoming at a briefing on Monday. 

As of 10:35 p.m. ET on Sunday, the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 futures climbed about 2%, while the Dow and S&P 500 futures were up over 1% and 1.30%, respectively. 

Hailing the progress, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said he expects at a minimum the 145% tariffs on Chinese imports to go to a much lower level, with a potential freeze on some of the tariffs. 

Ives also highlighted U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer's comments, "how quickly we were able to come to an agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as maybe thought."

Ives said this is a "huge" positive in the right direction for the market. "It's all about the details and the next steps in these U.S./China talks, but we would characterize this weekend so far as a best-case scenario that shows the framework for a bigger U.S./China deal is now on the table."

Crude oil futures rose modestly in Asian trading on Sunday amid the progress in the U.S.-China trade talks, while safe-haven gold slid about 2%. The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield edged 4.1 basis points to 4.414%.

The U.S. dollar firmed up against most other major counterparts, except the Australian dollar. 

Asian stocks were all modestly to moderately higher early Monday.

The week's economic calendar features some key market-moving reports, including the April consumer and producer price inflation reports, the April retail sales report, a slew of speeches by Federal Reserve officials, the first glimpse into manufacturing conditions for May, and a preliminary consumer sentiment reading.

On Monday, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler is scheduled to speak at 10:25 a.m. ET. Also on tap is the Treasury Department's monthly federal budget for April.

Among the earnings reports in the spotlight are from Fox Corp. (FOX), Monday.com (MNDY), Hertz Global (HTZ), Plug Power (PLUG), Simon Properties (SPG), and ZoomInfo (ZI).

U.S. stocks snapped a two-week winning streak and ended lower for the week ended May 9, as traders expressed uneasiness over the tariff uncertainty and the Fed's unchanged rate stance. 

The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF edged down 0.18% in the week ended May 9 before closing at $487.97. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) fell 0.43% to $564.34, and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) edged down 0.15% to $412.42.

On the other hand, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) ended up 0.16% at $200.81,

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