Futures attempt rebound after sharp sell-off in previous session

[May 24, 2019]   By Shreyashi Sanyal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Friday, attempting to bounce back from the previous session's steep sell-off, on cautious optimism after President Donald Trump predicted a swift end to the ongoing tariff war with China.

Trump said on Thursday that complaints against Huawei Technologies Co Ltd might be resolved within the framework of a U.S.-China trade deal.

However, no high-level talks have been scheduled between the two countries 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 lasting effects on the global technology supply chain.

In the previous session, the S&P 500 technology and industrials sectors closed 1.5% lower.

Technology giants Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp rose about 1% in premarket trading, while industrial bellwethers Boeing Co and 3M Co gained over 1%.

Reuters reported the Federal Aviation Administration expects to approve Boeing's 737 MAX jet to return to service as soon as late June.

At 7:20 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 171 points, or 0.67%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 18.25 points, or 0.65% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 43.25 points, or 0.59%.
 

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 23, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

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 6.7% after the footwear retailer missed quarterly profit and same-store sales estimates.

Autodesk Inc fell 7.4% after the software maker reported quarterly earnings below expectations.

Total System Services Inc jumped 6.4% after Bloomberg reported Global Payments Inc has held preliminary tie-up talks with the payment solutions provider. Global Payments' shares rose 1.4%.

On the macro front, a U.S. Commerce Department report is likely to show April durable goods declined 2%, after a 2.6% rise in March. The data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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