U.S. stock markets saw strong gains at the open on Tuesday, propelled by hopes that European and Japanese central banks will continue to adopt investor-friendly measures. A week-long rally in oil prices likewise contributed to the strong open for Wall Street after being closed on Monday in celebration of President’s Day.
The futures for blue-chip Dow rose 189 points, or 1.19%, by 6:50 AM eastern time, while those for the S&P 500 gained 23 points, or 1.22%. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 went up 66 points, or 1.64%.
Dow futures jumped nearly 270 points in early trading as oil prices rose by nearly 6% on news that oil ministers from Russia and Saudi Arabia will meet with their counterparts from Venezuela and Qatar in Doha, fueling hopes of a major agreement cutting back crude output.
The meeting, however, ended with an agreement to simply freeze output at their January production levels, instead of scaling back production, dampening market sentiment.
As a result, oil futures plummeted from the day’s highs, while U.S. stock futures and European stocks both trimmed their early gains.
Elsewhere, the Shanghai Composite Index leapt 3.3% as a strengthening Chinese yuan and talks of more central bank stimulus reassured investors.