US pre-open: Stocks set for slight gains ahead of barrage of economic data

Stocks on Wall Street are being called to start the Friday session with small gains following upbeat remarks from a top White House official.

Speaking after an event at the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday evening, national economic council director, Larry Kudlow, reportedly said that Washington and Beijing were near a trade deal.

On the flip-side, Kudlow also said that Donald Trump had not yet taken a decision on whether to delay the imposition on new trade tariffs on imports of cars and parts from the European Union.

Against that backdrop, as of 1139 GMT futures on the Dow Jones Industrials were adding 64.0 points to trade at 27,810.0, alongside a 6.5 point rise in S&P 500 futures to 3,103.50, while those for the Nasdaq-100 were up by 25.25 points to 8,290.75.

US-China trade aside, the market spotlight at the end of the week was expected to be on the release of a barrage of US economic indicators.

Included among those data points were reports on retail sales and imports for the month of October, both of which were due out at 1330 GMT, followed by a reading on industrial production for the same month at 1415 GMT.

The New York Fed's regional factory sector survey for November was also due out, at 1330 GMT.

In the corporate space meanwhile, quarterly earnings reports were due out from JC Penney and Aramark Services, among others.