Imminent U.S.-China Trade Talks Boosts Futures

Stock futures advanced Wednesday as investors monitored the latest updates on U.S. trade negotiations and looked toward the Federal Reserve interest rate announcement expected later in the day.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials popped 308 points, or 0.8% to 41,224.Futures for the S&P 500 index spiked 39.75 points, or 0.7%, to 5,665.50Futures for the NASDAQ jumped 144.5 points, or 0.7%, to 20,021.Tuesday night’s moves follow a losing day on Wall Street. The Dow lost nearly 390 points, or 1%. The S&P 500 docked about 0.8% and NASDAQ slid about 0.9%. Futures took a leg up on news that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and top trade official Jamieson Greer would meet with their Chinese counterparts this week in Switzerland. Investors took that as a positive on the trade front after the turbulent market action following President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement last month.That action comes as investors gear up for the Fed’s interest rate decision slated for 2 p.m. ET. Fed funds futures are pricing in a nearly 97% likelihood that the central bank holds the borrowing rate steady.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index sank 0.1%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng crept up 0.1%. Oil prices acquired 50 cents to $59.59 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices slipped $27.60 to $3,395.20 U.S. an ounce.