US pre-open: Futures trade higher ahead of Powell speech

Wall Street futures had stocks opening higher ahead of the bell on Friday as investors await a speech from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell later in the day.

As of 1235 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.20%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.26% and 0.29% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 192.38 points lower on Thursday, snapping a four-day winning streak for the blue-chip index.

Friday's primary focus will be the central bank's summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with the Fed now trying to prepare markets for when it likely eases its $120.0bn monthly bond purchases later in the year. Central to the symposium will be Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's speech at 1500 BST

Also in focus, headlines out of Afghanistan that confirmed explosions near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul had taken the lives of 13 US service members and wounded a further 18.

Markets.com's Neil Wilson said: "Explosions at Kabul airport were the big story and clearly didn’t help sentiment in the market on Thursday. Wall Street opened higher with the Nasdaq Composite hitting a record high before getting shaken lower on the violence in the Afghan capital, though broadly stocks were already having a tough session.

"It’s all about today's Jackson Hole event – lots of talk but ultimately, it’s going to come down to whether Powell talks up the taper or talks it down. Yesterday among the various 'sideline' chats, Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan didn’t say anything new – he expects to taper this year and hike next year but stressed the two decisions are entirely separate. James Bullard and Esther George also reiterated their view that the taper should start sooner rather than later. All three are on the hawkish end of the committee so this is not that big a deal or anything we didn’t know already. What matters ultimately is what Powell, Williams and Clarida think."

On the macro front, July's core PCE price index will be published at 1330 BST, as will an advance reading of last month's goods trade balance, while the University of Michigan's final August consumer sentiment index was slated for release at 1500 BST.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.