U.S. stock index futures pointed to a banner session for Wall Street on Monday with the S&P 500 on track to hit a fresh all-time high at the open, lifted by strong earnings and progress on U.S.-China trade.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 92 points, or 0.3%, early Monday to 26,996
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 8.5 points, or 0.3%, at 3,028.75
The broad index has been volatile since reaching its all-time high on July 26. Since then, the S&P 500 has posted 20 moves of at least 1% including three declines of more than 2.5% in August.
NASDAQ Composite futures jumped 28.75 points, or 0.4%, to 8,064.50
Sentiment was lifted at the start of the week by strong earnings from companies such as Walgreens Boots Alliance, AT&T and Spotify. Those three companies posted quarterly profits that exceeded analyst expectations. Walgreens and AT&T shares rose more than 1% each while Spotify gained nearly 6% in the pre-market.
Those results continued a trend of companies surpassing analyst earnings estimates this reporting period. Of the 202 S&P 500 companies that have reported, 78% have topped analyst expectations.
On the data front, advanced economic indicators for September and Dallas Fed manufacturing figures for October will be released prior to the market open.
Meanwhile, U.S. and Chinese officials said they were "close to finalizing" some parts of a trade agreement. Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua also pointed to progress being made on trade.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 index picked up 0.3% Monday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 0.8%,
Oil prices dropped 16 cents to $56.50 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices eked up five cents to $1,505.80 U.S. an ounce.