Investing.com - U.S. futures pointed to another day of gains on Wall Street, with belief in a near-term trade deal reviving again after Tuesday's shock comments by President Donald Trump.
Markets rose on Wednesday after Bloomberg reported that U.S. officials expect a phase one deal with China before a new round of American tariffs takes effect on Dec. 15. China repeated on Thursday that it expects tariffs to be lifted as part of that deal.
"The Chinese side believes that if the two sides reach a phase one deal, tariffs should be lowered accordingly," ministry spokesman Gao Feng said. Both sides remain in discussions over the deal, he added.
Nasdaq 100 rose 43 points or 0.5% by 6:41 AM ET (11:41 GMT), while Dow futures jumped 125 points or 0.5% and S&P 500 Futures gained 113 points or 0.4%.
Slack Technologies (NYSE:WORK) rose 4.6% after delivering better-than-expected earnings and a brighter outlook after the bell on Wednesday.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) gained 0.6% after keeping its quarterly dividend at 51c, while Pacific Gas & Electric Co (NYSE:PCG) gained 4.5% on news that it is nearing a $13.5 billion deal with victims of last year’s California wildfires.
On the data front, weekly jobless claims and international trade figures for October will be released at 8:30 AM ET, with factory orders at 10:00 AM ET.
In commodities, gold futures were flat at $1,479.80 a troy ounce, while the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.2% to 97.450. Crude oil futures gained 0.3% to $58.62 a barrel.