American equity-index futures fluctuated on Tuesday, as US banks began reporting earnings, while investors awaited more information on the specific terms of the US-China trade agreement.

The US Treasury Department had offered a goodwill gesture ahead of the signing ceremony by removing the "currency manipulator" label it had slapped on China last year, but said it hoped Beijing would take "decisive" steps to strengthen its yuan in the coming years.

China has committed to buying almost $80 billion worth of additional manufactured goods, services, energy and agricultural products over the next two years, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

In recent developments, The South China Morning Post reported that a social media account linked to the Chinese government has issued a note of caution ahead of the signing by saying that the “trade war is not over yet” and that it is “just the first round of a game".

Stocks ended higher on Monday, with the Nasdaq (+1.15%) and S&P 500 (+0.69%) closing at record highs as market participants awaited the trade agreement which is expected to be signed Wednesday.

Ahead, in today’s economic calendar, Tuesday includes; the Consumer Price Index for December at 8:30am EST. 

In earnings; JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Delta Air Lines (DAL) and Citigroup (C) are all expected to report today.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
China & Trade: US Drops China’s Currency Manipulator Label Ahead of Trade Deal. (The WSJ)
The US Treasury Department dropped its designation of China as a currency manipulator just two days before negotiators from Beijing and Washington are set to sign the first phase of the trade deal between the two countries.

ECONOMIC CALENDAR
Today's Economical Announcements.

08:30AM - ★★★ - Core CPI (MoM) (Dec) (Previous: 0.2%)
08:30AM - ★★☆ - CPI (MoM) (Dec) (Previous: 0.3%)

STOCKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Pre-Market Movers & News Related Stocks.

GameStop (GME): [NEWS] Said holiday season sales fell more than 25% and the videogame retailer also forecast a larger-than-expected drop in same-store sales for fiscal 2019.

Delta Air Lines (DAL): [EARNINGS] Beat estimates by 30 cents a share, with quarterly profit of $1.70 per share. Revenue topped forecasts as well. CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC that the airline had a very strong holiday season and that Delta has had good success in de-commoditizing its business.

JP Morgan Chase (JPM): [EARNINGS] Reported quarterly profit of $2.57 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 a share. Revenue also came in above estimates, boosted in part by strong results for fixed income.

McKesson (MCK): [GUIDEANCE] Raised its fiscal 2020 full-year outlook to $14.60 to $14.80 per share from the prior $14.00 to $14.60 a share. The drug distributor cited continued positive momentum in its business, and will give further details on its outlook at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco today.

Boeing (BA): [NEWS] Is offering very large discounts in order to keep orders for its currently grounded 737 Max jet, according to Britain’s Telegraph newspaper. The paper said the discounts amount to more than 50%.

Visa (V): [NEWS] Will buy privately held financial technology startup Plaid for $5.3 billion. Plaid’s technology helps link bank accounts to mobile apps, and is behind popular services like Venmo.

Amazon.com (AMZN): [NEWS] Will ask a judge to block Microsoft (MSFT) from working on a $10 billion Pentagon cloud computing contract. Amazon is disputing the awarding of the contract, accusing President Donald Trump of exerting improper pressure on the Defense Department to favor Microsoft.

Sysco (SYY): [DOWNGRADED] Downgraded to “neutral” from “overweight” at Piper Sandler, following the announcement that the food distributor’s CEO Tom Bene would step down on Jan. 31 after two years in that role.

Zumiez (ZUMZ): [GUIDANCE] Reported holiday season comparable sales of 6.8%, with the specialty apparel retailer also raising its fourth-quarter guidance.

Apple (AAPL): [DOWNGRADED] Downgraded to “underweight” from “neutral” at Atlantic Equities, which said Apple’s services and wearables businesses aren’t likely to provide material upside.

Wesco International (WCC): [UPGRADED] Upgraded to “outperform” from “sector perform” at RBC Capital, after the industrial products distributor won a bidding contest to buy networking products maker Anixter International (AXE) for $100 per share in cash and stock.

MOMENTUM STOCKS
GAINERS: CDLX, BYND, CSNA, TDOC, DDD, APPN, RARE, RVNC, SPCE
DECLINERS: EXAS, IOVA, NBIX, SGEN, SMPL

TODAY'S IPOs
None.

WE WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY!