Wall Street heads for gains before the bell as Trump and Xi meet eye Trump-Xi summit

Specialist Michael Pistillo. Left, and trader Fred's Demarco work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Wall Street is poised to open with gains Thursday following another record-setting day and developments emerging from U.S. President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

S&P futures rose 0.3 per cent, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7 per cent. Nasdaq futures gained 0.2 per cent early. The S&P and Nasdaq both hit record highs Wednesday.

Oil prices were effectively unchanged, with no clear ending to the Iran war after more than two months. Some were hoping the Trump-Xi meeting could bring results, after U.S. officials said Beijing could use its close economic ties with Tehran to press Iran to reopen the Strait or Hormuz.

On Thursday, the White House said Trump and Xi discussed enhancing U.S.-China economic cooperation. Both sides also agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened.

• S&P 500 market updates here

Brent crude, the international standard, was 19 cents lower at US$105.44 per barrel. It was around US$70 a barrel before the war in Iran started late February. That also came after the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that supply losses from the strait were “depleting global oil inventories at a record pace.”

Benchmark U.S. crude was down 16 cents to US$100.86 per barrel.

Investors are also watching for updates on China’s imports of Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips, after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was confirmed to be a part of Trump’s China trip alongside other top executives including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook. The U.S. business leaders met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang Thursday afternoon.

Trump met with Xi at the Great Hall of the People and they talked about U.S.-China relations and Taiwan, but analysts did not expect major breakthroughs.

In equities trading, internet networking giant Cisco Systems jumped 15 per cent after it reported double-digit sales and profit growth in the third quarter. The San Jose, California tech giant also raised its 2026 revenue guidance to US$4 million from US$3 million on the strength of AI infrastructure orders.

At midday in Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.5 per cent after the U.K. reported its economy expanded at a faster-than-expected pace at 0.3 per cent for March despite impacts from the war in Iran. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.8 per cent and Germany’s DAX gained 1.3 per cent.

• Dow Jones updates here

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index was down one per cent to 62,654.05, after briefly reaching another all-time intraday record at above 63,700, partly supported by robust corporate results. South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.8 per cent higher at 7,981.41 at a fresh record helped by technology-related stocks on the artificial intelligence boom.

The Shanghai Composite index lost 1.5 per cent to 4,177.92. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng flatlined at 26,389.04.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1 per cent to 8,640.70.

Taiwan’s Taiex was up 0.9 per cent, and India’s Sensex climbed 1.1 per cent.

Chan Ho-him And Matt Ott, The Associated Press