US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq to open higher; Amex shares to weigh on Dow

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* Bitcoin takes hit on tax hike proposal
* Futures: Dow down 0.08%, S&P up 0.12%, Nasdaq up 0.18%

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By Shivani Kumaresan
April 23 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes
tracked a firmer open on Friday, while a fall in shares of
American Express looked set to weigh on the Dow as investors
awaited business activity data to gauge the pace of economic
recovery.
Wall Street's main indexes sank nearly 1% in the previous
session following reports of U.S. President Joe Biden planning
to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, including the
largest-ever increase in levies on investment gains.
"Yesterday was a knee-jerk reaction to the proposal. Right
now, there's nothing definitive on the part of administration,"
said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.
"The focus is still on whether or not this market is in the
early stage of correction."
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX and the blue-chip Dow .DJI
are on course for weekly declines after four straight weeks of
gains as the latest worries over tax hikes and a resurgence in
global coronavirus cases dulled sentiment.
American Express Co AXP.N slid 4.1% after reporting a
slump in credit spending and lower quarterly revenue.
Speedy vaccination rollouts and trillions in dollars of
economic stimulus have helped the S&P 500 and the Dow clinch
all-time highs last week, with technology stocks lagging
so-called value stocks expected to outperform as the economy
emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.
IHS Markit's flash reading at 9:45 a.m ET is likely to show
business activity in the manufacturing and services sectors
improved in April from the prior month.
At 6:35 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 41 points, or
0.12%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 9 points, or 0.22%, and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 26.5 points, or 0.19%.
With the first-quarter corporate earnings season under way,
focus will be on results from tech behemoths Apple Inc AAPL.O ,
Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , Amazon Inc AMZN.O and Facebook Inc
FB.O next week.
Honeywell International HON.N fell 1.8% in pre-market
trading after it missed revenue estimates for its aerospace
division, its biggest business constituent.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related stocks including Riot
Blockchain RIOT.O and Marathon Digital MARA.O dropped 5.7%
and 5.6% after bitcoin BTC=BTSP suffered hefty losses on fears
that plans to raise capital gains taxes would curb investment in
digital assets.