US stock futures jump after Trump-Xi trade armistice

[NEW YORK] US stock index futures jumped on Sunday, suggesting Wall Street was set rise further after its biggest weekly gain last week in nearly seven years as China and the United States agreed to shelve any new tariffs and reset discussions.

S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 1.6 per cent on high contract volume after trading resumed for the week at 6 p.m. (2300 GMT). Dow Jones Industrial Average e-mini futures rose 1.8 per cent, while Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures jumped nearly 2 per cent.

After getting clobbered for much of the past two months, US stocks rallied last week on optimism that a detente could be reached between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, over trade between the world's top two economies.

The outcome of the meeting between the two leaders in Buenos Aires on the sidelines of the G20 summit over the weekend appeared to set the stage for further gains. The two agreed to de-escalate tensions over trade that have dogged US and global markets off and on throughout the year.

A US pledge not to boost tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese goods could mark the most important deal in years between the two countries.

For the full week ended Friday, the S&P 500 Index gained nearly 5 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite Index, loaded with tech companies that had been buffeted by costs associated with tariffs imposed by Mr Trump on Chinese imports, gained more than 5.6 per cent.

REUTERS