Global markets were mixed on Wednesday as traders digested news of upcoming U.S.-China trade talks and awaited the first U.S. central bank interest rate decision since President Donald Trump’s tariffs began rattling markets last month.

U.S. stock futures rose on the U.S.-China trade talk news, while Asian markets were more cautious and stocks in Europe were down.

Wall Street and TSX futures were in the green.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Uber Technologies Inc., Walt Disney Co. and drug maker Novo Nordisk ADR.

In Canada, investors are getting results from miners Barrick Gold Corp. and Nutrien Ltd.; utility companies Fortis Inc. and Canadian Utilities Ltd.; insurers Manulife Financial Corp. and Great-West Lifeco Inc.; software company Kinaxis Inc.; energy companies Tourmaline Oil Corp. and TransAlta Corp.; CCL Industries Inc.; and WSP Global Inc.

The U.S. dollar rose with along on strong sentiment about the U.S.-China trade meeting set for the weekend in Switzerland.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the meeting would be about de-escalation. China sounded more guarded and cited a proverb about actions speaking louder than words.

Focus will be on the U.S. Federal Reserve later in the session. The central bank is meeting to set interest rates for the first time since U.S. tariffs started whipsawing financial markets last month, and since tensions escalated between U.S. President Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over rate policy direction.

“The Fed chair will need to balance guiding markets about the future of monetary policy and defending the Fed from pressure from the administration,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading platform XTB.

“A hawkish lean from the Fed could spook markets and remind us that the recent market rally was a correction in a downtrend,” Brooks said, adding that markets were expecting a hawkish lean from Powell.

Expectations for rate cuts were dialled down after relatively solid U.S. labor data last week.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.37 per cent by midday. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.29 per cent, Germany’s DAX was down 0.11 per cent and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.59 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.14 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.13 per cent.

Oil prices rose for a second session, buoyed by positive investor sentiment about the U.S.-China trade talks as well as signs of lower U.S. shale output.

Brent crude futures climbed 61 US cents a barrel to US$62.76 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude was up 71 US cents at US$59.8 a barrel.

Both benchmarks had plunged to four-year lows this week after OPEC+ decided to speed up output increases, stoking fears of oversupply at a time when U.S. tariffs have increased concerns about demand.

Still, some U.S. producers have signalled that they would cut spending, cautioning that the country’s oil output may have peaked. This is contributing to the uptick in the market, analysts said.

“It’s also worth noting that the OPEC production increase at the weekend was fully priced in,” Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said.

In other commodities, spot gold was down 1.2 per cent to US$3,386.23 an ounce after a sharp rise in the previous session, as news of trade talks weighed on the safe-haven metal.

The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.

The day range on the loonie was 72.44 US cents to 72.66 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 2.07 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, gained 0.19 per cent to 99.42.

The euro lost 0.06 per cent to US$1.1363. The British pound lost 0.17 per cent to US$1.3346.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.319 per cent ahead of the North American opening bell.

Japan services and composite PMI

Euro zone retail sales

Germany factory orders

(2 p.m. ET) U.S. Fed announcement with chair Jerome Powell’s press briefing to follow.

(3 p.m. ET) U.S. consumer credit for March.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press