US stock index futures lower; employment data in focus

Wall Street index futures were set for a lower open on Wednesday as investors looked ahead of key employment data and crude oil inventories later in the day.
On Tuesday, US equity indexes posted with little gains as sentiment continues to be restrained by an upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping.
The US-China summit will be held in Florida at the Mar-a-lago golf resort on April 6-7, with trade and jobs expected to be at the core of negotiations. Investors have opted for a cautious positioning ahead of this event, as Trump anticipated discussions will be “very difficult”.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended nearly 39 points higher, with Caterpillar on top of advancers. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq showed little changes by the end of session.
The Republican leader has criticized China’s trade policies all along his presidential campaign, accusing it of stealing American jobs by weakening its currency.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.19 percent / 20689.24 points
• Standard & Poor’s 500: +0.06 percent / 2360.16 points
• Nasdaq Composite: +0.07 percent / 5898.61 points

In economic news, the US Commerce Department said on Tuesday that trade deficit came down to $43.56 billion, above expectations for a reduction to $44.8 billion. Factory orders for February increased by 1 percent, in line with analysts’ forecast.
Washington was also on the spotlight as Trump reiterated his intention to deregulate financial sector and especifically banks.
"We're going to be doing things that are going to be very good for the banking industry so that the banks can loan money to people who need it," said Trump in a meeting with business representatives.
"We're going to do a very major haircut on Dodd-Frank. We want strong restrictions, we want strong regulation. But not regulation that makes it impossible for the banks to loan to people that are going to create jobs," added the US President.
The Dodd-Frank Act was first introduced in 2010 to increase regulation among banking sector following the 2008 financial crisis, which resulted in bankruptcy of major investment banks, bailouts from the Federal Reserve and costed thousands of jobs.
On the data front today, ADP nonfarm employment change for March is due at 12:15 GMT, with expectations pointing at 187,000 jobs build. Markit Economics will release its Services PMI for March as of 13:45 GMT, with 53.1 seen. The Institute of Supply Management will also present its own non-manufacturing PMI at 14:00 GMT. The Federal Reserve will release its March meeting minutes at 18:00 GMT.
The US Energy Information Administration is set to release official crude inventories for the week ended March 31 as of 14:30 GMT. Economists estimated a 435,000 barrels drop.

Fort Financial Services