US pre-open: Stocks seen up ahead of more Sino-US trade talks
US stock futures pointed to a positive open on Wall Street on Friday as investors eyed more trade talks between the US and China ahead of next week’s truce deadline.
At 1130 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq futures were up 0.5%, while S&P 500 futures were 0.4% firmer.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is due to meet President Trump at the White House on Friday following reports that both sides have started to outline commitments in principle on six issues that could halt a trade war.
Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said: "It would appear that there’s been some real progress made in the talks, at least enough to extend the truce and avoid further tariff hikes. This is a major risk for markets and is helping to feed into the improved risk appetite we’ve seen this year.
"If Trump’s team can get this over the line before next week’s deadline, it could provide a major boost although European investors may get a little anxious at the prospect of the US President then turning his attention that way."
In corporate news, shares in file sharing and storage company Dropbox were nearly 10% lower in pre-market trade as the company’s fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat expectations but guidance for the first quarter and full year disappointed.
Elsewhere, shares in Kraft Heinz Co were down more than 20% in pre-market trade after it posted a quarterly loss of nearly $13bn, slashed its dividend and said it had received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Online shipping and postage company Stamps.com suffered heavy losses ahead of the open after it said its key partnership with the United States Postal Service has ended.
There are no releases of note due on the macro front, but speeches are due from a number of Fed policymakers, including New York Fed President John Williams and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard.