Earlier U.S. stock futures slumped as much as 1.3%, as the South China Morning Post reported the Chinese delegation, headed by Vice Premier Liu He, was planning to leave Washington after just a day of minister-level meetings, instead of as originally planned on Friday.
Though there were some conflicting reports on whether Liu’s plans have been changed, many market players remained cautious. “Barring any surprise today, it looks like their talk is breaking down. The tariff will be hiked. The situation looks dire,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
Chinese government officials told Reuters that Beijing has lowered expectations for significant progress from this week’s trade talks with the United States, upset by the blacklisting of Chinese companies.