Top 5 Things to Know in The Market on Tuesday

Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, December 11:

1. U.S., China Kick Off New Round of Trade Talks

The United States and China kicked off the latest round of trade talks during a telephone call between U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.

China's commerce ministry, in a brief statement, said Liu had spoken to Mnuchin and Lighthizer on Tuesday morning, Beijing time.

The three senior officials discussed Chinese purchases of agricultural products and changes to fundamental Chinese economic policies, including the Made in China 2025 plan, during the phone call, according to people familiar with the conversation.

"Both sides exchanged views on putting into effect the consensus reached by the two countries' leaders at their meeting, and pushing forward the timetable and roadmap for the next stage of economic and trade consultations work," the ministry said.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed last week to hold off on additional tariffs on each other's goods for 90 days in order to allow for negotiations to continue.

Lighthizer said on Sunday that unless U.S.-China trade talks wrap up successfully by March 1, new tariffs will be imposed.

2. May Heads to Europe Amid Brexit Turmoil

Adding to the uncertainty in markets, British Prime Minister Theresa May abruptly postponed a parliamentary vote on her Brexit agreement on Monday, raising the risk of a chaotic exit from the European Union.

With her position in jeopardy, May said she would now go back to the EU and seek reassurances over the so-called Irish "backstop", an insurance policy to ensure no return to a hard border on the island of Ireland.

May will first meet with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of an EU summit on Thursday and Friday.

She then plans to meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who made it clear that there won't be any negotiation on the current Brexit agreement.

Without a deal, the options for the world's fifth largest economy include a last-minute agreement, another EU referendum, or a potentially disorderly Brexit without a deal.

Sterling crawled up around 0.5% against the dollar to 1.2625 (GBP/USD), after slumping 1.3% the previous day, when the currency sank to its lowest since April 2017 at 1.2507.

Read more: What Next For UK Politics?: Jeremy Cook

3. U.S. Stock Futures Point to Higher Open

U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open, as a fresh whiff of optimism over the U.S.-China trade dispute lifted sentiment.

At 5:30AM ET (10:30 GMT), the blue-chip Dow futures were up 68 points, or about 0.3%, the S&P 500 futures tacked on 6 points, or around 0.25%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a gain of 27 points, or 0.4%.

The moves in premarket follow another volatile session on Wall Street on Monday, which saw the Dow recover from a 507-point drop.

Elsewhere, European stocks were higher, with most major bourses across the region in positive territory.

Earlier, Asian shares closed mixed.

4. Oil Prices Tick Higher Ahead of API Report

In commodities, oil prices ticked higher ahead of the release of fresh weekly data on U.S. commercial crude inventories.

The American Petroleum Institute is due to release its weekly report for the week ended December 7 at 4:30PM ET (21:30 GMT), amid expectations of a drop of about 2.9 million barrels.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 41 cents, or 0.8% at $51.41 a barrel.

Meanwhile, international Brent crude oil futures rose 48 cents, or 0.8%, to $60.45 per barrel.

5. PPI Data Ahead

On the data front, today's calendar will bring investors the November report on producer prices at 8:30AM ET (13:30 GMT), which should give clearer signs on the pace of inflation.

Producer prices are expected to have risen 0.1% last month and 2.5% over the prior year, according to estimates.

Excluding the cost of food and fuel, core producer price inflation is projected to climb 2.5% on a year-over-year basis.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.25% at 96.93.

In the bond market, U.S. Treasury yields inched higher, with the benchmark 10-year note standing at 2.88%, while the yield on U.S. government bonds with 2-year maturities was at 2.75%.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce its fourth rate hike of 2018 next week, but investors are beginning to question how many increases it can implement next year. While policymakers have pointed to three increases in 2019, the market is starting to bet the U.S. central bank may halt its rate hikes altogether next year.

-- Reuters contributed to this report

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