US pre-open: Wall Street set for higher start ahead of opening bell

US equity futures are pointing to strong gains at the start of trading, thanks to a potential easing of tensions between Washington and Brussels and ahead of the release of key economic reports.

According to German daily Handelsblatt, the US instructed its ambassador in Germany to try and broker a solution between Berlin and Brussels on auto sector tariffs.

Against that backdrop, as of 1405 BST futures on the Dow Jones Industrials were climbing by 168 points to 24,331.0, alongside gains of 19.0 points to 2,732.25 on the S&P 500 and an advance of 61.75 points for the Nasdaq-100 to 7,085.50.

In corporate news, chip-maker Micron Technology disclosed a 1% hit to its fourth quarter sales after its Chinese subsidiaries were slapped with a preliminary injunction by a Chinese court linked to patent infringement disputes.

Economic data ahead of the bell was a bit mixed.

On the negative side of things, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics initial jobless claims rose by 3,000 during the week ending on 30 June to reach 231,000 (Barclays: 220,000), although they remained near multi-decade lows.

However, in parallel consultancy ADP reported that non-farm private sector payrolls grew by 177,000 in June (consensus: 190,000).

Still ahead on the economic calendar, at 1500 BST the Institute for Supply Management was set to release its services sector index for the US in June.

The minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting, on 12 June, would follow at 1900 BST.