US pre-open: Futures point to losses as markets await more trade news

US stocks looked set to head south at the bell as uncertainties surrounding a trade deal between the two largest economies in the world persisted.

As of 1230 BST, Dow futures had the index opening 0.12% lower, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were being called to start the session 0.11% and 0.19% weaker, respectively.

Futures were pointing to some modest losses at the bell on Tuesday after Wall Street stocks finished in the green on the first day of July as participants digested news out of China, Japan and North Korea over the weekend.

Donald Trump stated on Monday that any trade deal with Beijing would have to be "somewhat tilted" in favour of Washington.

While sentiment was helped somewhat by the news that Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had agreed to a ceasefire in the trade war, market participants turned a touch more cautious ahead of the bell on Tuesday as they waited on actual signs of progress to settle the dispute that has battered global trade, business sentiment and economic growth.

Ahead of the open, SpreadEx analyst Connor Campbell said: "By the end of Monday’s session the enthusiasm for the US/China trade truce had waned somewhat, investors turning to the tougher questions surrounding the likelihood of an actual deal being reached any time soon.

"After all, the superpowers have been here before, with the most recent set of tariffs in part such a surprise because there two sides had reportedly been so close to an agreement earlier in the year."

The White House also threatened to slap tariffs on an additional $4bn-worth of exports from the European Union as part of a long-running dispute over aircraft subsidies.

On the data front, there were no big data points scheduled for Tuesday but Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams was due to speak on the global economic and policy outlook later in the morning, while Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester was expected to focus on the current state of the US economy in London at 1600 BST.

In corporate news, Acuity Brands, Simply Good Foods and Greenbrier Companies will report their latest quarterly results.

Elsewhere, oil prices were in the red after OPEC extended production cuts until March 2020 following a meeting in Vienna a day earlier.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak revealed on Tuesday that non-OPEC producers had agreed to a nine-month rollover of supply cuts, ratifying a policy designed to prop up oil prices amid a weakening global economy.

As of 1230 BST, West Texas Intermediate was down 0.44% at $58.83 a barrel, while Brent Crude was changing hands at $64.78 per barrel - a 0.43% drop.