U.S.-China trade talk news boosts markets

(Credit: Tom Brenner—The Washington Post via Getty Images)

• The S&P 500 sank 0.8% yesterday, taking it down 4.7% YTD, while S&P futures were up 0.6% this morning, premarket. The U.S. government said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would travel to Switzerland to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Beijing’s lead economic representative. Investors took hope from the prospect of negotiations between the world's two biggest economic powers, but their eyes were pinned on Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Markets in Asia rose on the news that the U.S. and China hadn't begun negotiations over the trade-blockade-like 100%+ tariffs they've put on one another—but are about to. The Trump administration said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer would travel to Switzerland on Thursday, where they're scheduled to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Beijing’s lead economic representative, for meetings that will take place between May 9 and 12.