WS set for modest gains at open

NEW YORK (Reuters): US stocks were set to open modestly higher on Friday after a sell-off, on cautious optimism after President Donald Trump predicted a swift end to the tariff war with China and a resolution to complaints against Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

Trump said on Thursday that Huawei could be included in the US-China trade deal. However, no high-level talks have been scheduled since the last round of negotiations in Washington two weeks ago. Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 meeting next month in Japan.

Earlier this week, while Washington temporarily relaxed its ban on Huawei, there were reports that it was planning a similar ban on another Chinese firm, making investors worry that such moves would have a lasting effect on the global technology supply chain.

“I don’t see enormous amounts of positive news out there although there is optimism about the trade discussions,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.

Industrial bellwethers Boeing Co, Caterpillar Inc and 3M Co rose in premarket trading. Boeing shares rose 1.1% after Reuters reported the Federal Aviation Administration expects to approve Boeing’s 737 MAX jet to return to service as soon as late June.

“We’ve had a turbulent week. Investors are stepping back at these levels, assessing opportunities entering the long weekend,” said Andre Bakhos, managing director at New Vines Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

“The trade talks are not going as smoothly as one would have liked, but there is going to be some short covering as well.”

At 8:41 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 110 points, or 0.43%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 12.75 points, or 0.45% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 25.25 points, or 0.35%.

Markets shrugged off data that showed new orders for US-made capital goods fell more than expected in April, further evidence that manufacturing and broader economy were losing steam.

The daily exchanges between the United States and China have kept investors on edge, putting the S&P 500 index on track to post its biggest monthly decline since the December sell-off.

Following a sell-off on Thursday, the S&P 500 is now 4.7% off its all-time high hit on May 1.

Among other stocks, Foot Locker Inc dropped 9.4% after the footwear retailer missed quarterly profit and same-store sales estimates.