US STOCKS-Futures gain as reports fuel trade deal hopes

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* Beijing open to agreeing to a partial trade deal - BBG
* China offering extra U.S. agriculture purchases - FT
* J&J falls after $8 bln damages verdict from jury
* Futures up: Dow 0.78%, S&P 500 0.92%, Nasdaq 1.01%

By Arjun Panchadar
Oct 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to rise for the first
time in three sessions on Wednesday after latest media reports
eased concerns over escalating trade tensions between the United
States and China, ahead of high-level trade talks starting
Thursday.
China is still open to agreeing to a partial trade deal with
the United States, Bloomberg reported, despite the inclusion of
top Chinese artificial intelligence startups in a trade
blacklist. Separately, the Financial Times reported Beijing was
offering to increase its annual purchases of U.S. agricultural
products. Trade-sensitive chipmakers rose premarket. Nvidia Corp
NVDA.O , Intel Corp INTC.O and Advanced Micro Devices Inc
AMD.O gained 1.5%, while Apple Inc AAPL.O was up 1.2%.
The reports offered some relief to investors after a
turbulent start to October as a result of escalating trade
tensions, intensifying efforts to impeach President Donald Trump
and signs of slowing economic growth.
Bets of a third interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve
have surged since last week after data showed a sharp
contraction in U.S. manufacturing and a dismal reading on
business activity.
On Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell flagged openness to
further rate cuts, repeating that the central bank will act "as
appropriate" amid an economy that he said was likely to continue
to expand. Investors are now focused on the third-quarter earnings
season, with analysts expecting the worst quarterly profit
performance since 2016.
Earnings for S&P 500 companies are forecast to fall nearly
3% from a year earlier, based on IBES data from Refinitiv.
At 7:21 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 205 points, or
0.78%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 26.5 points, or 0.92% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 76.75 points, or 1.01%.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N fell 2.2% after a Philadelphia
jury said the company must pay $8 billion to a man over his
claims that it failed to warn that young men using its
antipsychotic drug Risperdal could grow breasts. PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL.O dropped 1.3% after the digital
money transfer company said it expected a pre-tax loss of $228
million during its third quarter. U.S.-listed Chinese stocks gained after falling in the
previous session, with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.N ,
JD.com Inc JD.O and Baidu Inc BIDU.O up between 1.5% and
1.7%.