U.S. Stocks May See Initial Strength On Trade Deal News

(RTTNews) - After recovering from an early slump to end the previous session mixed, stocks are likely to move mostly higher in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to initial strength on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.3 percent.

The upward momentum on Wall Street comes after President Donald Trump announced trade deals with Japan and the Philippines.

The "largest ever" U.S. trade deal with Japan features a 15 percent tariff on Japanese exports and includes a commitment from Tokyo to invest $550 billion in the United States and open its markets for American vehicles, rice, and other agricultural goods.

Trump claimed the U.S. would receive 90 percent of profits from the agreement and that the pact could generate hundreds of thousands of American jobs.

According to Trump, the new trade pact with the Philippines would make the county an open market with zero tariffs on U.S. goods, but with Manila paying a 19 percent duty.

The announcement of these trade deals spurred expectations of further trade agreements as the August 1st deadline nears.

Not long after the start of trading, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled tor release its report on existing home sales in the month of June.

Existing home sales are expected to slip to an annual rate of 4.01 million in June after climbing to a rate of 4.03 million in May.

After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks regained ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day before eventually ending the session narrowly mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 81.49 points or 0.4 percent to 20,892.69, the S&P 500 inched up 4.02 points or 0.1 percent to 6,309.62 and the Dow climbed 179.37 points or 0.4 percent to 44,502.44.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index spiked by 3.5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.6 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.5 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slipping $0.24 to $65.07 a barrel after falling $0.64 to $65.31 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $3,437, down $6.70 compared to the previous session's close of $3,443.70. On Tuesday, gold surged $37.30.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 146.47 yen compared to the 146.63 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1722 compared to yesterday's $1.1754.