U.S. equity futures nudged higher in early Friday trading as comments from China suggesting its open to trade talks that offset the impact tariffs are likely have on the profits of tech giants Apple and Amazon.
Stocks finished firmly higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.63% to extend its winning streak to an eighth consecutive trading session and take the benchmark to within 70 points of its ‘Liberation Day’ close on April 2.
The Nasdaq, however, lead the broader advance on the back of massive gain from Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META) , both of which topped Wall Street earnings forecasts and provided solid near-term outlooks for AI and ad spending revenue respectively.
Those gains could be more difficult to replicated on Friday, however, as both Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) warned investors of the likely tariff hit to their near-term sales forecasts, with the former suggesting an overall tariff cost of around $900 billion for the current quarter.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said tariffs would likely add $900 million to the tech giant’s June-quarter costs.
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Apple, which also posted disappointing China sales figures, was last marked 2.9% lower in premarket trading with Amazon falling 1.6%.
Broader markets, however, were buoyed by comments from China’s Finance Ministry, which said it was “evaluating” an offer from Washington to being trade negotiations over the coming weeks.
“The U.S. has recently taken the initiative on many occasions to convey information to China through relevant parties, saying it hopes to talk with China,” the Ministry said, but warned that ‘attempting to use talks as a pretext to engage in coercion and extortion would not work.”
Stocks in Hong Kong and Taiwan powered higher on the news, although markets in mainland China remained closed for a long holiday weekend. Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished 1.04% higher in Tokyo.
Related: U.S. recession risk leaps as GDP shrinks for the first time since 2022
On Wall Street, stocks look set for a solid, but unspectacular open ahead of today’s April employment from the Labor Department at 8:30 am Eastern time, which is expected to show a slowdown in hiring that could escalate further if tariffs remain in place over the summer months and beyond.
Futures contacts tied to the S&P 500 suggesting an opening bell gain of around 20 points, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average called 190 points. The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is called 40 points higher.
In the bond market, Treasury yields were holding largely steady in overnight trading, with 10-year notes pegged at 4.206% and 2-year paper changing hands at 3.691% heading into both the April non-farm payroll report and the unveiling of President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget plan later in the session.
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