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* Futures up: Dow 0.38%, S&P 500 0.35%, Nasdaq 0.45%
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Dec 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday,
setting Wall Street for a second session of gains this week, on
increased hopes of a preliminary trade deal between the United
States and China.
Headlines around trade suggested the world's two largest
economies were closer to agreeing how many tariffs would be
rolled back in a "phase one" trade deal, while President Donald
Trump said talks with China were going "very well". A more optimistic tone around trade helped Wall Street's
main indexes snap a three-day losing streak in the previous
session, putting the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX index about 1%
away from an all-time high hit last week.
However, if no agreement is reached soon, more tariffs on
Chinese goods would come into effect from Dec. 15.
Shares of tariff-sensitive semiconductor companies looked
set to rise for the second straight day, with Micron Technology
Inc MU.O , Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD.O and Nvidia Corp
NVDA.O gaining between 1% and 1.3% in premarket trading.
At 7:03 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 104 points, or
0.38%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 11 points, or 0.35% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 37 points, or 0.45%.
Investors are also expected to parse through a report from
the Commerce Department on U.S. goods trade deficit in October
and another set of data on factory orders.
After lackluster readings on domestic services sector
activity and private payrolls growth on Wednesday, market
participants are also awaiting the Labor Department's non-farm
payrolls data due Friday.
Among stocks, Dollar General Corp DG.N jumped about 5%
after the discount store chain raised its full-year profit
forecast. Nike Inc NKE.N shares climbed 2% after a report said
Goldman Sachs upgraded the sportswear maker's stock to "buy"
from "neutral". Tiffany & Co TIF.N , which is being bought by Louis Vuitton
owner LVMH LVMH.PA , nudged 0.5% lower after the luxury jeweler
fell short of analyst's estimates for quarterly sales.