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Stock futures were slightly higher Monday at the start of a crowded week for market-moving events, including the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy decision, release of the July jobs report and quarterly earnings results from a host of major companies.
Here were the main moves in the market ahead of the opening bell, as of 8:45 a.m. ET:
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S&P 500 futures (ES=F): +0.04%, or 1.25 points
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Dow futures (YM=F): +0.07%, or 19 points
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Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): +0.09%, or 7 points
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10-year Treasury yield (^TNX): -2.6 bps to 2.055%
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Dollar index (DX-Y.NYB): +0.11% to 98.12
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WTI crude oil (CL=F): +0.05% to $56.23 per barrel
This week, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts in Shanghai for a round of face-to-face trade talks. These discussions will mark the first in-person meetings since previous talks dissolved in May.
Expectations are low heading into the talks, however, with the same sticking points from several months ago are likely to remain roadblocks to a breakthrough deal.
China has demanded that the U.S. abandon all tariffs in a final agreement, while the U.S. has outlined legal changes Beijing must make to protect intellectual property and purchase more American agricultural products. Disagreement over U.S. restrictions on American companies selling technology to China’s Huawei has added another hurdle to an eventual trade deal.
[Read more: Inside Huawei’s $1.5 billion ‘European town’ campus in China]
Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng Index and MSCI Hong Kong Index each fell Monday amid ongoing protests in Hong Kong over now-delayed legislation that would have allowed extradition from the territory to mainland China. Demonstrators in Hong Kong – a major hub for international businesses in Asia – widely distrust the Communist Party-controlled justice system in mainland China, and saw the legislation as compromising the relative autonomy of the region.
The demonstrations, now in the eighth week, compelled a rare public response from Beijing’s government officials. The state’s Hong Kong and Macau affairs office condemned the protests as “horrendous incidents” and called on Hong Kong officials to “resolutely punish violent crimes according to law,” according to multiple reports.
Elsewhere, investors on Monday eyed the latest merger in the pharmaceutical industry. Pfizer (PFE), the largest drugmaker in the world, announced Monday that it would be spinning off Upjohn, its off-patent branded and generic medicines business, and combining it with generic drug company Mylan (MYL).