U.S. stock index rises amid trade negotiation between United States and China

U.S. stock index futures rose on Friday as investors welcomed positive signs regarding trade talks between the United States and China and after UK lawmakers voted to delay a potentially chaotic exit from the European Union.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He spoke by telephone with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, with the two sides making further substantive progress on trade talks, Xinhua news agency reported. However, the prospect of trade talks taking longer than expected capped gains on Wall Street in the previous session and resulted in the S&P and Nasdaq ending slightly lower and breaking their 3-day winning streak this week.

Chipmakers, which get a large portion of their revenue from China, rose in premarket trading — Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Micron Technology Inc and Nvidia Corp gained around 1 per cent each. The mood was also lifted after British lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to seek a delay in Britain's exit from the European Union, setting the stage for Prime Minister Theresa May to renew efforts to get her divorce deal approved by parliament next week.

The S&P 500 has risen 2.4 per cent so far this week, its biggest weekly gain in one month, largely helped by a host of economic data which supported the Federal Reserve's patient stance on future interest rate hikes. A dovish Fed and hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal getting underway have helped put the benchmark S&P just 4.4 per cent away from its record closing high hit in September.

Volatility may rise during Friday's session on account of "quadruple witching," as investors unwind interests in futures and options contracts prior to expiration. At 6:43 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 98 points, or 0.38 per cent. S&P 500 e-minis were up 10 points, or 0.36 per cent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 40.25 points, or 0.56 per cent.

Among stocks, Amazon.com Inc rose 1.4 per cent after brokerage KeyBanc upgraded the rating of the online retail giant's shares to "overweight". Oracle Corp fell 3.5 per cent after the business software maker forecast current-quarter revenue below analysts' estimates.

Facebook Inc dropped 1.7 per cent after its Chief Product Officer Chris Cox exited the social media giant. On the economic front, a Federal Reserve report at 9:15 a.m. ET is expected to show industrial production rose 0.4 per cent in February, after falling 0.6 per cent in the prior month.

The Labor Department is expected to say job openings declined to 7.31 million in January, compared to 7.33 million in December. The data is due at 10:00 a.m. ET.