US pre-open: Futures trade higher, major indices on track for winning week

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Friday, setting major indices on course for a winning week.

As of 1225 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.51%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.39% and 0.37% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 141.59 points higher on Thursday as investors mulled over some better-than-expected jobless data from the Department of Labor.

In focus ahead of the bell, Salesforce shares moved higher in pre-market trading after posting first-quarter earnings that came in ahead of expectations on the Street, while HP stock traded lower despite reporting better-than-expected second-quarter results.

AMC and GameStop shares were also in the green amid a resurgence in speculative trading.

Back-and-forth discussions in Washington regarding the White House's comprehensive infrastructure package were also drawing an amount of investor attention before the open after Senate Republicans unveiled a $928.0bn infrastructure counteroffer on Thursday. However, that figure was still well below Joe Biden's most recent proposal of $1.7trn.

Biden was also expected to announce an impressive $6.0trn budget at 1900 BST.

IG's Joshua Mahony said: "Plans for a $6.0trn budget will bring many winners, although it makes sense to take any of today’s announcements with a pinch of salt. Despite Biden enjoying a slim majority across congress, the ability to get his original plan across the line is doubtful.

"Thus while markets will likely enjoy an optimistic end to the week, it could be just a matter of time before we see a heavy dose of reality over just how much of that $6.0trn will see the light of day."

On the macro front, April's PCE price index, an advance reading of last month's goods trade and personal income/spending numbers will be released at 1330 BST, while May's Chicago PMI and the University of Michigan final consumer sentiment index will be published at 1500 BST.