U.S. stock-index futures pointed to gains Friday, ahead of a read on last month’s retail sales, as investors continue in their efforts to assess the state of U.S.-China trade talks.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 64 points, or 0.2%, to 27,810, while S&P 500 futures gained 6.60 points, or 0.2%, to trade at 3,103.50. Nasdaq-100 futures gained 25.50 points, or 0.3%, to 8,291.

On Thursday, the Dow ended marginally lower, falling 1.63 points to 27,781.96, a day after eking out a record close. The S&P 500, meanwhile, tiptoed further into uncharted territory with a rise of 2.59 points, or 0.1%, to end at 3,096.63 — it’s 21st record close of 2019. The Nasdaq Composite edged 3.08 points lower, a decline of less than 0.1%, to finish at 8,479.02.

Despite being down three of the four past trading days, the tech-weighted Nasdaq remains less than 0.1% below its record closing high set on Tuesday.

Source : Market Watch