U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher Friday morning, amid renewed optimism on the progress of trade talks between Washington and Beijing.
At around 7 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 107 points, indicating a gain of more than 114 points. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 also rose.
Market focus is largely attuned to global trade developments, after U.S. officials said China had made proposals on a range of issues that go further than it has before — including on forced technology transfer.
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday he had a “productive working dinner” with Chinese trade officials the previous night in Beijing, as both sides restart negotiations with the hope of bringing an end to their protracted trade dispute.
The world’s two largest economies have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of one another’s goods over the past year, battering financial markets and souring business and consumer sentiment.
Chinese stocks surged overnight. The Shanghai Composite gained 3.2 percent overnight to lead stock indexes in the region.
On the data front, personal income and core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index figures for February will be released at around 8:30 a.m. ET.
Chicago PMI and consumer sentiment for March and new home sales for February will follow later in the session.
Meanwhile, investors are also likely to closely monitor a flurry of speeches from policymakers at the U.S. central bank. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles and New York Fed President John Williams are all set to comment on the U.S. economy at separate events on Friday.
In corporate news, CarMax and Blackberry are both set to report their latest quarterly results before the opening bell.
Shares of Wells Fargo rose more than 2 percent on news that CEO Tim Sloan was retiring from his post. Sloan became the company’s chief executive in October 2016 after news that employees created millions of fake accounts to meet sales quotas.
Source: cnbc.com | Original Link