U.S. stock index futures rose on Friday after President Donald Trump said the ongoing trade war could be over quickly, but equities were still on pace to close lower for the week.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 120 points, or 0.5%, to 25,583
Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 13 points, or 0.5%, at 2,832.50
NASDAQ futures advanced 23.5 points, or 0.3%, to 7,334.50
Trump told reporters on Thursday afternoon he expected the U.S.-China trade war to end swiftly. He also noted a trade deal with China could lift tough restrictions on the Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
The president's comments lifted market sentiment at a time when investors are growing more convinced that the trade war will take longer than expected to conclude. The Dow and S&P 500 came into Friday's session down more than 1% each for the week while the NASDAQ had lost 2.4%
Energy and tech were the worst-performing sectors for the week coming into Friday. The energy sector is down 3.6% through Thursday's close while tech — the largest S&P 500 sector by market weight — had lost 2.8%.
Apple shares also contributed to the tech losses as several analysts raised concern over the company's exposure to China. The stock is down nearly 5% this week.
Markets in the United States will be closed Monday for Memorial Day
In terms of data, the calendar is thin with only durable goods numbers out this morning.
Overseas, the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.2% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 0.3%.
Oil prices recovered 70 cents to $58.61 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $3.20 to $1,282.20 U.S. an ounce.