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* Futures up: Dow 0.29%, S&P 0.34%, Nasdaq 0.43%
By Sruthi Shankar
Jan 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures hovered near
all-time highs on Thursday on optimism over an initial
U.S.-China trade deal and a positive start to the fourth-quarter
earnings season.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI closed
above the 29,000 mark for the first time and the benchmark S&P
500 .SPX hit a record high on Wednesday after U.S. President
Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed the
long-awaited trade pact.
China is expected to boost purchases of U.S. goods and
services in exchange for the rolling back of some tariffs as
part of the deal, but concerns remain with several thorny issues
still unresolved. The deal eased a worry that had kept investors on edge for
over a year and helped them focus on quarterly earnings.
Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley MS.N wrapped up earnings
from big lenders with a better-than-expected quarterly profit,
powered by its investment management, bond trading and
underwriting businesses. Its shares gained 1.9% in premarket
trading. Analysts expect earnings at S&P 500 companies to have
dropped 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to Refinitiv IBES
data, the second consecutive decline.
At 7:18 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 83 points, or
0.29%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 11.25 points, or 0.34%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 38.75 points, or 0.43%.
Shares of semiconductor stocks, including Micron Technology
Inc MU.O and Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD.O , were up about
a percent after a promising outlook from the world's top
contract chipmaker TSMC 2330.TW TSM.N pointed to a recovery
in the chip sector. TSMC is considered a proxy for global tech demand as its
clients include Apple AAPL.O , Qualcomm QCOM.O and Huawei
HWT.UL .
A slew of economic data including retail sales, Philly Fed
business index and weekly initial jobless claims numbers are due
at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Retail sales is expected to have increased 0.3% in December,
compared to 0.2% rise in November. The numbers will be of
particular interest after Target Corp TGT.N , Kohl's Corp
KSS.N and J.C. Penney Co Inc JCP.N all reported
disappointing holiday sales.
Signet Jewelers Ltd SIG.N was a bright spot, jumping 16.8%
after raising adjusted earnings estimate for 2020 on the back of
upbeat holiday season sales.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O fell 3.1% after Morgan Stanley downgraded
the stock to "underweight" from "equal weight".