U.S. stock index futures indicated a higher open on Friday with Washington and Beijing set to resume key trade talks mid-October.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 64 points, or 0.2%, early Friday to 26,957
Futures for the S&P 500 picked up nine points, or 0.3%, at 2,989.50
NASDAQ Composite progressed 19 points, or 0.2% to 7,806.25
All three indexes were on track to finish the week lower before the bell Friday morning after snapping a three-week winning streak last week.
Wells Fargo announced Friday that it has named Bank of New York Mellon Chairman and CEO Charles Scharf as its new chief executive officer. Scharf will assume his new role at the head of the nation's fourth-largest bank on Oct. 21 and will represent the bank's first permanent CEO since Tim Sloan resigned in March.
Shares of chipmaker Micron were set to fall more than 5% ahead of the opening bell after it reported first-quarter guidance that fell short of analyst expectations.
The Boise, Idaho-based technology company also said its sales to Huawei “were down meaningfully” from anticipated levels prior to the Trump administration's move to add the Chinese telecommunications giant to the U.S. Entity List. The White House's move effectively bars Huawei from doing business with American companies.
On the data front, durable goods, personal income, and consumer numbers are out at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The optimism among equity traders Friday morning came with trade talks between the U.S. and China set to resume Oct. 10-11 in Washington, D.C. News of a scheduled meeting adds to the growing belief on Wall Street that the trade war between the two economic superpowers has eased in recent weeks.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 let go of 0.8% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dipped 0.3%
Oil prices moved backward 49 cents to $55.92 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $13.40 to $1,501.80 U.S. an ounce.