Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Slip Ahead of Inflation Data as Investors Digest Latest News on US-China Trade Talks

Stock futures moved higher Wednesday morning as investors digested an encouraging report on inflation and the latest developments on trade talks between the U.S. and China.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were each down 0.2% recently. The benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite come into today’s session on three-day winning streaks, with each of the indexes at their highest levels since February as investor concerns about global trade tensions have eased, while economic data and corporate earnings have remained strong.

Market participants had been eagerly awaiting news from trade talks between U.S. and Chinese officials, who met in London on Monday and Tuesday. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced that a framework had been reached that would allow for the implementation of an agreement reached last month in which the U.S. and China slashed the massive tariffs they had imposed on one another. Lutnick provided few details, saying that the framework still required approval from President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping.

Meanwhile, investors were preparing for this morning’s scheduled release of consumer price inflation data for May, as they look for indications of how Trump’s tariff policy is working its way through the economy. Inflation is expected to have risen in May after three straight months of declines.

Shares of the world’s largest technology companies were mixed in premarket trading. Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Broadcom (AVGO) were all slightly lower, while Nvidia (NVDA) and Alphabet (GOOG) inched higher, and Tesla (TSLA) jumped more than 2%.

Tesla shares have posted sharp gains in each of the past three sessions, rebounding from a massive sell-off last week that was sparked by a very public dispute between CEO Elon Musk and President Trump. Musk said in an X post early this morning that he regrets some of the posts he made lade week about the president.

Oil sector stocks continued gaining ground this morning as the price of crude oil climbed. Oilfield services company Baker Hughes (BKR) was up more than 3%, while oil producers APA Corp. (APA) and Diamondback Resources (FANG) each rose about 2%. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were up 1.7% to $66.05 per barrel, trading at their highest level since early April.

Bitcoin was at $109,300 in recent trading, down from an overnight high of $110,300. The digital currency is not far from its record high of just below $112,000, set on May 22.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on a wide range of loans, notably mortgages, rose to 4.50% from 4.47% at yesterday’s close. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was little changed at 99.05.

Gold futures were up 0.4% at $3,355 an ounce.