US pre-open: Stocks to nudge up as trade talks set to resume next week
US stocks looked poised to eke out small gains at the open on Friday as investors considered the prospect of more Sino-US trade talks next week.
At 1210 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were up 0.1%.
Trade relations were very much in focus as it emerged that talks between China and the US had not yielded a deal ahead of the 1 March deadline on tariffs. The negotiations were set to continue in the US next week, with US trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer saying that the two nations still need to make headway on some "very, very important and very difficult issues".
Meanwhile, Trump was due to sign a compromise spending deal to avert another government shutdown, but also declare a national emergency in an effort to secure funds to build a Mexico border wall.
"After a few days of discussion in Beijing, President Xi Jinping has said that the talks will continue in Washington next week, both sides still chasing that elusive deal before the ceasefire ceases at the start of March," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
"This faint whiff of progress was enough to cause the markets to reverse the losses that had come after the double-hit of Donald Trump’s ‘national emergency’ chat and China’s inflation-slowdown."
In corporate news, shares in consumer goods group Newell Brands were likely to be active after its fourth-quarter profit beat analysts' expectations but sales were a miss.
PepsiCo nudged higher in pre-market trade as its quarterly earnings and revenue came in in line with analysts' forecasts but the company warned of weaker-than-expected earnings for this year.
Elsewhere, Deere & Co was in focus after the tractor maker's first-quarter profit fell short of estimates on the back of higher costs and worries about a trade war.
On the data front, the NY Empire State manufacturing index is at 1330 GMT, along with the import price and export price indices. Industrial production is at 1415 GMT and Michigan consumer sentiment is at 1500 GMT.