US pre-open: Futures higher ahead of PMI data

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Friday ahead of some key data points.

As of 1220 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 1.05%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.76% and 0.73% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 341.73 points higher on Thursday as stocks staged a late rally on the back of comments from central banker Raphael Bostic that indicated he believes the Fed will be able to maintain interest rate hikes at 25 basis points rather than the half-point increase called for by other policymakers.

Treasury yields were still in focus prior to the open, with the benchmark 10-year note trading slightly lower but still elevated at 4.012% and its two-year counterpart sitting at 4.863%.

More good headlines out of China also give sentiment a boost early on Friday. However, Xi Jinping's new crackdown on bankers, the Asian superpowers tight relationship with Russia, its deteriorating relationship with the US, and China's changing landscape due to Xi's economic and political policies somewhat overshadowed the positive news.

On the macro front, S&P Global's composite and services PMIs will be published at 1445 GMT, while the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing PMI was slated for release at 1500 GMT.

Elsewhere, Federal Reserve bankers Lorie Logan and Raphael Bostic will deliver speeches at 1600 GMT and 1645 GMT, respectively, while Michelle Bowman will speak at 2000 GMT and Thomas Barkin will deliver comments at 2145 GMT.

No major corporate earnings were scheduled for release on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com