Wall Street claws for more gains in wake of Greenland de-escalation

Wall Street was poised to open with gains Thursday, adding to the rally from a day earlier when U.S. President Donald Trump walked back his tariff threats on eight European countries over Greenland and ruled out using military force to take control of the territory.

Futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.5% before the bell Thursday while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.3%. Nasdaq futures jumped 0.8%. All three rallied to 1.2% gains on Wednesday but are still down for the week.

Shares of the power generator maker Generac are up 3% with a potentially catastrophic ice storm about to slam into a large swath of the U.S.

Procter & Gamble slipped 1.2% after it barely nudged past Wall Street’s second-quarter profit targets and came up just short of revenue projections. The company, which owns a bevy of home and personal care brands such as Pampers and Crest, lowered the range on one measure of its full-year profit guidance.

Spice maker McCormick & Co. slumped 6.8% after it missed profit targets and issued disappointing guidance as it continues to face higher commodity prices.

Railroad operator CSX reports after the closing bell Thursday.

The U.S. will release new data on jobless claims, as well as an updated estimate of third-quarter U.S. gross domestic product. A delayed inflation report for November and December is also landing Thursday.

U.S. markets logged t heir biggest losses since October on Tuesday as investors reacted to Trump’s threat over the weekend to slap tariffs of 10% on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland for opposing U.S. control of Greenland, sparking concerns over worsening relationships between the U.S. and its European allies.

But Trump, attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, backed down on Wednesday and said he would not use force to acquire Greenland. The U.S. president also said in a post on his social media site that he had agreed with the head of NATO on a “framework of a future deal” on Greenland and on Arctic security.

At midday in Europe, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 each added 1.2%. Britain’s FTSE 100 picked up 0.4%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.7% to 53,688.89, with technology stocks leading gains. SoftBank Group jumped 11.6% and equipment maker Disco Corp. soared 17.1%. Advantest, which makes testing equipment for computer chips, surged 5%.

South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.9% higher at 4,952.44 after crossing the 5,000 mark for the first time, as traders cheered. Technology-related stocks drove the rally. Shares of chipmaker SK Hynix picked up 2%, while Samsung Electronics rose 1.9%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged less than 0.1% higher to 26,600.68. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher to 4,122.58.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained nearly 0.8% to 8,848.70.

Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.6%, while India’s Sensex added 0.2%.

The price of gold fell 0.2% to $4,829.80 per ounce, reflecting investors’ reduced worries, after passing the $4,800 mark ahead of Trump’s reversal of stance on Greenland as many flocked to safe-haven assets.

In the bond market, U.S. Treasury yields also eased following lessened fear among investors as well as a calming of Japan’s bond market turmoil. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.25% from 4.29% late Wednesday.

Japan’s long-term bond yields surged to records earlier this week after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s decision to call a snap election in February. That sparked concerns over her pledges to cut taxes and increase spending, which could hinder efforts to rein in government debt.

The U.S. dollar rose to 158.78 Japanese yen from 158.27 yen, prompting analysts to speculate that authorities might intervene if the yen falls any further.

U.S. benchmark crude oil shed 89 cents to $59.73 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 92 cents to $64.32 per barrel.