Wall Street Opens Higher on Upbeat China Data, Yuan Stable

On Thursday, Wall Street was set to open higher as better-than-expected trade data came from China. In addition, a firm currency has offered some comfort to upset investors due to the escalation in trade tensions and signals pointing to a recession

The yuan recovered some ground as China’s central bank set its official midpoint stronger than market expectations. It was signalling an intent to steady a decline in the currency.

Meanwhile, exports from the world’s second-largest economy posted an unexpected growth, while imports fell less than forecast.

A chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in Pittsburgh, Kim Forrest said, “Data are very reassuring for investors because that shows the economics of the world aren’t degrading rapidly.”

This week, markets have been mixed after the yuan slide declined. It was because of President Donald Trump’s latest threat of imposing a fresh round of tariffs on Chinese imports, to which China retaliated.

Signs from the bond market were threatening as well. The closely watched U.S. recession indicator is nearly touching its highest level since March 2007 on Tuesday.

In the past two days, the benchmark index has reached a slight relief, but it still stands about 5% away from its record closing high hit last month.

Dow e-minis increased 80 points, or 0.31%. S&P 500 e-minis also rose 10.5 points, or 0.36% together with Nasdaq 100 e-minis adding 39.25 points, or 0.52%.

Shares of Symantec Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc boosted futures for Nasdaq 100.

After sources said chipmaker Broadcom Inc was in advanced talks to buy the cybersecurity company’s enterprise business, Symantec soared 11%.

Releasing the second generation of processor chip by the chipmaker added 6% to AMD. It is for data centers that had landed Alphabet Inc’s Google and Twitter Inc as customers.

As outlooks for the year and forecast raised a faster path to profitability, Lyft Inc advanced 7.7% in the ride-hailing service. Rival Uber Technologies Inc also grew 4.8% because of the quarterly report results.

The shares of Walt Disney Co improved 1.1% after Credit Suisse progressed its shares to “outperform” on positive investor sentiment as its video streaming service Disney+ closes in on its U.S. launch.

On the flip side, shares of CenturyLink Inc dropped 3.5% after the telecommunications service provider missed second-quarter revenue estimates.