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* Futures up: Dow 0.25%, S&P 500 0.24%, Nasdaq 0.38%
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Dec 6 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on
Friday as comments from President Donald Trump that trade talks
with China were "moving right along" helped set a calmer tone
ahead of the Labor Department's much anticipated monthly jobs
report.
Trump's remarks around the discussions came after Chinese
officials reiterated their stance that some U.S. tariffs must be
rolled back for a phase one deal. Supporting the mood further was a positive gesture from
China after it said it will waive import tariffs for some
soybeans and pork shipments from the United States. All eyes are now on non-farm payrolls data due at 8:30 a.m.
ET, which will allow investors to gauge the strength of the
domestic labor market. The data is expected to show U.S.
employers added 180,000 jobs last month, higher than 128,000
additions in October.
Domestic job growth likely accelerated in November as former
striking workers returned to General Motors' GM.N payrolls,
which would confirm that the economy remained on a moderate
expansion path despite a prolonged manufacturing slump.
Later in the day, the preliminary number for University of
Michigan surveys of consumers sentiment for December is expected
to be 97, up from 96.8 last month.
Wall Street has had a tumultuous run through the week with
every new headline on the U.S.-China trade war. All of the main
indexes are now set to log weekly losses of around 1% each.
At 7:08 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 70 points, or
0.25%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 7.5 points, or 0.24% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 31.5 points, or 0.38%.
Among stocks, Uber Technologies Inc UBER.N fell 1.4% in
premarket trading after it said it received over 3,000 reports
of sexual assault related to its 1.3 billion rides in the United
States last year. Ulta Beauty Inc ULTA.O jumped 9.4% after the cosmetics
retailer beat quarterly profit expectations. Tesla Inc TSLA.O rose 1.5% after the electric vehicle
maker said its Chinese-built Model 3 cars would receive state
subsidies.