Investing.com – U.S. futures were higher as investors shrugged off trade tensions and Syria conflict uncertainty and looked ahead to earnings.
The S&P 500 futures was up over seven and a half points or 0.29% to 2,671.75 as of 7:00 AM ET (11:00 GMT) while Dow futures increased 67 points or 0.27% to 24,526.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose eight points or 0.13% to 6,679.50.
After a Russian diplomat said his country’s forces would shoot down U.S. missiles launched at Syria, U.S. President Donald Trump warned Russia to "get ready” for imminent military action in response to an alleged chemical attack over the weekend.
Trump and his national security aides discussed U.S. option in Syria on Thursday, but he cast doubts by tweeting that an attack on Syria “could be very soon or not so soon at all.”
Meanwhile Trump said late on Thursday that he would only consider joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement if it was a “substantially better” deal than under former President Barack Obama. Trump had previously announced that he was pull out of the landmark trade agreement.
The earnings season kicks off on Friday, with JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) reporting first quarter earnings per share of $2.37, which was higher than expected. It’s stock rose 0.90% after the report. Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) are expected to release their earnings at 8:00 AM ET (12:00 GMT).
Other top movers included Citigroup, which rose 1.21%, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), up 0.99% and Micro Focus International (LON:MCRO) PLC ADR (NYSE:MFGP), which surged 5.58%.
Elsewhere Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) dipped 1.31% and telecommunications firm Nokia (HE:NOKIA) Corp ADR (NYSE:NOK) fell 0.54%.
In economic news, consumer sentiment and the job openings and labor turnover survey (JOLTS) come out at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).
In Europe stocks were mixed. Germany’s DAX rose 85 points or 0.69% while in France the CAC 40 increased 18 points or 0.35% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down four points or 0.06%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 14 points or 0.43% while Spain’s IBEX 35 was up 61 points or 0.63%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.16% to $1,344.00 a troy ounce while crude oil futures increased 0.51% to $67.41 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.08% to 89.42.