US pre-open: Futures point to further gains as Dow nears record high
Wall Street futures had stocks opening higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 near all-time highs.
As of 1230 BST, Dow futures were up 0.44%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures had the indices opening 0.37% and 0.42% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed just 45.42 points stronger on Thursday after Donald Trump agreed to hold off on additional tariff increases on Chinese goods for two weeks as a "gesture of goodwill".
With futures pointing to further gains on Friday, the Dow looked ready to surpass its intraday record high of 27,398.68, while the S&P 500 was fast approaching its own record of 3,027.98.
Focus throughout the session will mainly be locked on trade developments between the US and China, with Donald Trump claiming that Beijing would be making purchases of "large amounts" of agricultural products.
China's official Xinhua News Agency reported earlier that China's State Council plans to exclude some agricultural products, such as soybeans and pork, from additional tariffs on US goods.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, cautioned that a trade deal was still a long way off.
"Trump says he would consider an interim deal - maybe, maybe not, you just don’t know what’s truth amid all the fake news," he said.
On the data front, import/export prices and retail sales figures for August will be posted at 1330 BST, while the University of Michigan's September consumer sentiment index and business inventories for July will be released at 1500 BST.
In corporate news, Butler National and Nutriband will post their latest quarterly figures throughout the course of the day.