European and US stock futures are trading virtually unchanged in this pre-opening sessionafter a night when stock markets on the Asian continent lost some steam, at a time when China and the U.S. resumed trade negotiations.

The futures contract of the Stoxx 50 - the index that groups the 50 largest quotations in the region - is losing 0.1%, in line with the futures of the American S&P 500. During the early morning hours in Lisbon, the Japanese, South Korean and Hong Kong indices fell between 0.1% and 0.6%, while the Shanghai exchange, in Beijing, managed to rise 0.2%.

Beijing and Washington had their first conversation on trade issues since Joe Biden is US president, via phone call, to follow up on negotiations between the two geographies.

This first conversation will have been "candid", assured the representatives of both sides, Katherine Kai (US Department of Commerce) and Liu He (Chinese Vice President) after the White House said that the US was entering a period of great competition with China. 

In focus continues the pressure of rising prices, which may affect the monetary policy of central banks, leading them to withdraw part of their stimuli. New Zealand's central bank followed in Canada's footsteps, saying it would raise interest rates starting next year. 

Randal Quarles, the vice chairman of the US Federal Reserve, said that it will be important for the bank to begin discussing a massive reduction in debt purchases from current levels if the economy continues to recover strongly.