Investing.com – U.S. futures pointed to a higher opening bell on Friday, as an upbeat outlook on a possible Sino-U.S. trade deal helped lift equities from a steep decline in October.
The S&P 500 futures rose 20 points or 0.76% to 2,758.75 as of 6:52 AM ET (10:52 GMT) while Dow futures were up 245 points, or 0.97%, to 25,570.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures increased 13 points, or 0.19%, to 7,091.25.
News that U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping increased investor appetite for riskier assets. Trump and Xi spoke on the phone regarding trade on Thursday, boosting sentiment that a trade deal will be reached when the two meet at G-20 summit later this month.
Investors are looking ahead to data from the nonfarm payrolls report for October, which comes out at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT). Focus will be on the report's average hourly earnings, which are expected to rise 3.1%. A better-than-expected number could increase expectations of continued rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, who are already expected to increase rates in December.
Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) was among the top gainers in pre-market trading, jumping 8.63% after the coffee chain posted record quarterly revenue. General Electric (NYSE:GE) rose 1.67% while Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) gained 1.03% and Micron (NASDAQ:MU) was up 1.55%.
Elsewhere, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 5.68% after its first-quarter guidance missed estimates, while Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) slumped 7.85% as costs ate into its quarterly profit and GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) decreased 11% after reporting a loss in the third quarter.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.06% to $1,236.80 a troy ounce while crude oil futures decreased 0.27% to $63.52 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.23% to 96.06.