May 7 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday as hopes of a de-escalation in trade tensions with Beijing firmed, while investors awaited the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates that is expected later in the day.
Washington announced late on Tuesday that representatives of the two countries would meet over the weekend in Switzerland for ice-breaker trade discussions.
The meetings will follow weeks of tit-for-tat tariffs that roiled financial markets and flagged concerns about global economic growth.
Mixed signals from the world's two biggest economies on the status of the negotiations left markets in a state of uncertainty, pushing many companies to shelve their forecasts. The U.S. central bank, meanwhile, adopted a wait-and-watch approach despite signs of slowing growth.
President Donald Trump's administration has said potential deals with major trading partners are underway, but markets are yet to see tangible results on that front.
At 07:05 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis were up 37.25 points, or 0.66%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 133.25 points, or 0.67%, Dow E-minis were up 299 points, or 0.73%.
The Federal Reserve is set to announce its policy decision on Wednesday afternoon and is widely expected to hold interest rates steady.
Traders are now roughly pricing in a rate cut by July, according to data compiled by LSEG, after a mixed bag of economic data last week signaled a slowing economy and a resilient labor market.
Comments from policymakers will be scrutinized for clues on how they plan to approach monetary policy easing this year, amid Trump's repeated calls for lower interest rates and criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, which had spooked investors in April.
"The Fed chair will need to balance guiding markets about the future of monetary policy and defending the Fed from pressure from the administration," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading platform XTB.
"A hawkish lean from the Fed could spook markets and remind us that the recent market rally was a correction in a downtrend," Brooks said, adding that markets were expecting just that from Powell.
Wall Street ended lower for the second straight session on Tuesday after the U.S. administration failed to provide clarity on the trade front.
The S&P 500 is more than 8% away from its record high notched in February, even though all indexes have recouped declines logged since Trump's "Liberation Day" reciprocal tariffs announcement on April 2.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), was up 1.7% in premarket trading after the chipmaker forecast revenue for the second quarter above Wall Street estimates.
Walt Disney's (DIS.N), quarterly results topped Street expectations, helped by increased visitor spending at its U.S. theme parks and a surge in streaming customers, sending its shares up 5%.
Uber Technologies (UBER.N), dropped 5.2% as the ride-hailing and food delivery company missed quarterly revenue expectations and said it anticipates a 1.5% currency-related drag on second-quarter gross bookings growth.
Arista Networks (ANET.N), fell 5% after its quarterly report, while Marvell Technology (MRVL.O), lost 7% after narrowing its forecast for the first quarter of 2026 and postponing its investor day.
Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai
