Futures steady after Monday's drastic selloff

[May 14, 2019]   By Sruthi Shankar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures indicated gains at the open on Tuesday, as optimistic comments from Washington and Beijing took the edge off market concerns about a further escalation in trade war.

The prospects of global economy being derailed by the United States and China sliding into a fiercer, more protracted dispute had rattled investors on Monday after China announced plans to hit back with tariffs on U.S. goods.

Wall Street witnessed one of its worst selloffs in the previous session. The S&P 500 and the Dow recorded their largest percentage drop since Jan.3 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq logged its worst day as investors scoured for safety in low-risk assets.

However, on Tuesday, the Chinese government said both sides have agreed to keep talking about their trade dispute, helping inject some calm into markets, with European markets and U.S. futures back in the positive.[GLOB/MKTS]

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping at G20 Summit in late June.

At 7:27 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 178 points, or 0.7%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 23.25 points, or 0.83% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 81 points, or 1.11%.

The recent run of losses has knocked off nearly 5% off the S&P 500 since hitting an all-time high on May 1.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 13, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Apple Inc shares, among the worst hit on Monday, gained 1.2% in premarket trading along with a host of chipmakers including Micron Technology Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices.

Coca-Cola Co's shares rose 1% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight", saying higher growth has not been priced into the stock's valuation.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc fell 1% after the gaming company forecast first-quarter sales below analysts' expectations as it faces intense competition from free-to-play "battle royale" games "Fortnite" and "PUBG".

Deere & Co fell 1.2% after JP Morgan downgraded shares of the tractor maker to "underweight" from "neutral".

In economic data, a Labor Department report due at 8:30 a.m. ET is likely to show a 0.7% rise in import prices in April, after having risen 0.6% in March.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.