U.S. stock index futures pointed to a strong open on Friday, the first day of March, as Wall Street looked to build on its best start to a year in nearly 30 years.
At around 8:10 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a gain of more than 170 points at the open. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were also up sharply.
The moves in the premarket come a day after the major indexes posted solid monthly gains in February, pushing the S&P 500 to its best start to a year since 1991. The S&P 500 is up more than 11 percent for the year, along with the Dow. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, is up 13.5 percent.
Decreasing trade tensions between China and the U.S., along with a declining fears of tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve, helped propel stocks higher to kick off 2019.
Bloomberg News reported Thursday that U.S. officials are getting a final trade deal ready for President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign around mid-March.
That report came after White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told CNBC the two countries are making “fantastic” progress in their negotiations. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also told CNBC the two side have “made a lot of progress.”
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But while stocks have been on a tear the first two months of the year, they have traded in a tighter range recently. The S&P 500 was down for the week through Thursday’s close as the index tries to break above 2,800, a level closely watched by investors and traders.
Market participants are likely to closely monitor a fresh batch of economic data on Friday. Personal income, consumer spending and core PCE figures for December and January will be released at around 8:30 a.m. ET.
Manufacturing PMI, ISM manufacturing, and consumer sentiment data are all expected to follow later in the session.
Source: cnbc.com | Original Link