US stock futures were muted heading into Tuesday’s session as Wall Street returned from a three-day Memorial Day weekend, while caution still prevailed amid concerns over the fate of trade talks between Washington and Beijing.

Earlier this week, on Monday, Donald Trump wrapped up a four-day state visit to Japan, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, telling reporters during a press conference that he’s “not ready to make a deal” with Beijing, a comment which had suggested little progress in the trade dispute.

These stalled US-China negotiations have done much to sour business and consumer sentiment in May; driving global stocks towards their first monthly drop in five and pushing sovereign bonds higher, with 10-year Treasury yields now at their lowest level since October 2017 as the securities returned to trading.

This morning’s developments look to build upon Friday’s session, where global markets stabilized following supportive comments on trade from Donald Trump. These modest gains were not enough, however, to prevent the major indices from ending the week in negative territory amid worsening trade tensions and mounting global growth concerns.

The benchmark S&P 500 eked out a +0.23% gain on Friday, following falls in the previous sessions, to finish the week down -1.07%. This marks the indexes’ third consecutive week of decline and its longest weekly losing streak since December.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week down -0.51%, despite Friday’s +0.53% advance, while the Nasdaq Composite closed lower, -0.05%, extending its -2.67% weekly decline.

Ahead, in today’s economic calendar, Tuesday includes; Home Price Index data for March at 9am EST, followed by a Consumer Confidence figure for May at 10am EST.

In earnings; YY Inc. (YY), Nio Inc. (NIO) and Momo (MOMO) are amongst the major companies scheduled to report their latest earnings data today.

TODAY’S TOP HEADLINES
China & Trade: China is indicating it’ll never give in to US demands to change its state-run economy. (CNBC)
As trade talks between the US and China increasingly center on Chinese treatment of foreign companies, Beijing says major American complaints about structural aspects of its economy are running up against “core interests”.

ECONOMIC CALENDAR
Today’s Economical Announcements.

09:00AM – ★☆☆ – House Price Index (MoM) (Mar) (Previous: 0.3%)
10:00AM – ★★★ – CB Consumer Conf. (May) (Previous: 129.2)

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

Fiat Chrysler (FCAU): [NEWS] Is seeking a merger with French automaker Renault, in a deal that would see each side take a 50% stake in a merged entity. The proposal would create the world’s third largest automaker by production.

Activision Blizzard (ATVI): [UPGRADE] Goldman Sachs upgraded the videogame producer to “buy” from “neutral” and added the stock to the “Conviction Buy” list, noting the potential positive impact of new and upcoming content.

Beyond Meat (BYND): [RATING] J.P. Morgan Securities initiated coverage of the plant-based burger company with an “overweight” rating and a $97 per share price target, noting an “extraordinary” growth opportunity in a market it thinks will expand by 100 times from current levels over the next 15 years.

Global Payments (GPN): [MERGER] Global Payments and Total Systems Services have agreed to an all-stock merger of equals. The two payment technology companies expect the transaction to close during the fourth quarter.

Southwest Airlines (LUV): [DOWNGRADE] Evercore downgraded Southwest to “in-line” from “outperform”, pointing to the negative impact that the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX jet has had on the air carrier.

Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA): [NEWS] Agreed to an $85 million settlement with the state of Oklahoma over claims it was among the parties responsible for the state’s opioid crisis. A trial is set to begin today in which Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) will face a similar accusation.

Alibaba (BABA): [NEWS] Is considering a listing in Hong Kong that would raise as much as $20 billion, according to Reuters.

Uber (UBER): [NEWS] Uber announced that Ryan Graves has resigned from its board of directors.

Molson Coors (TAP): [NEWS] Won a partial victory in its legal dispute with rival beer brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev. A court ruled that Bud Light commercials could not claim that Molson’s MillerCoors unit used corn syrup in its light beers.

Meredith Corp. (MDP): [NEWS] Struck a deal to sell Sports Illustrated magazine for $110 million to licensing company Authentic Brands Group. However, Meredith will still publish the iconic publication and manage its website.

MOMENTUM STOCKS
GAINERS: HIBB, TSS, ARWR, INTU, TGT
DECLINERS: FL, SPLK, CVNA, ADSK, STZ, CRC, PUMP, PDCE, HES

TODAY’S IPOs
None.