US equity futures climb as oil prices slide ahead of Trump-Xi summit

US equity futures pushed higher as two of the market’s favorite ingredients showed up at the same time: cheaper oil and the faint hope that the world’s two largest economies might keep playing nice. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed roughly 0.6-0.8%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.6-0.7%, and the Nasdaq-100 led the pack with an advance of about 1.1%. The catalyst was a one-two punch of falling crude prices and upbeat signals from officials ahead of a summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, scheduled for September 24 in Washington. Oil’s retreat is doing the heavy lifting West Texas Intermediate crude dropped more than 3%, sliding to around $97 per barrel. Brent crude fell by 2-3%, approaching $101 per barrel. The decline in oil was partly driven by renewed hopes for diplomatic progress in the Middle East. Anticipated discussions between Trump and Iranian leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly raised the prospect, however slim, of reduced supply disruption risk in the region. The summit everyone is watching, but nobody expects fireworks from Xi Jinping is set to visit the White House on September 24, marking his first trip there ...