Wall Street on track to open with strong gains on optimism of a US-UK trade deal

Wall Street was on track to open with strong gains Thursday due to optimism over a pending U.S. trade deal with Great Britain.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that a deal due to be announced at 10 a.m. eastern will be a "full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come."

Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 1.1%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%. Big Tech and chip stocks pushed Nasdaq futures 1.5% higher.

Shares in Europe were also markedly higher. France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX each jumped 1.1% by midday. Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.3%.

There is also hope that the United States and China may be making the first moves toward a trade deal. The announcement for high-level talks between U.S. and Chinese officials this weekend in Switzerland helped raise optimism. That was dimmed somewhat after Trump said that he wouldn't reduce his 145% tariffs on Chinese goods as a condition for negotiations.

On Wednesday, as expected, the Federal Reserve left its main interest unchanged, saying that the risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen, an unusual combination that puts the central bank in a difficult spot.

Chair Jerome Powell said that tariffs have dampened consumer and business sentiment but that data has not yet shown significant harm to the economy.

The Fed kept its rate at 4.3% for the third straight meeting, after cutting it three times in a row at the end of last year.

Trump has been lobbying for quicker cuts to juice the economy, but Powell underscored the uncertainty about Trump's tariffs and how and when they could impact the economy.

“There’s so much that we don’t know,” Powell said.

“For now, trade optimism is outweighing yesterday’s Fed hawkishness and may help set the tone for the rest of the week—especially with the U.S. and China preparing to meet in Geneva to discuss their unsustainable tariff situation,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.4% to finish at 36,928.63. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2% to 8,191.70. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2% to 2,579.48. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 0.4% to 22,775.92, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.3% to 3,352.00.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained $1.01 to $59.08 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 93 cents to $62.05 a barrel.

In currencies, the U.S. dollar rose to 144.75 Japanese yen from 143.76 yen. The euro cost $1.1294, down from $1.1317.