U.S. stock index futures inched higher on Friday as banking shares rose on the first major release of the earnings season and geopolitical tensions and concerns over tit-for-tat trade tariffs retreated.
JPMorgan rose 0.56 percent premarket after the biggest U.S. bank by assets reported a 35 percent surge in quarterly profit.
Shares of Wells Fargo and Citigroup, which are also set to report earnings later, were also higher.
Stocks got a boost on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump cast doubt over the timing of his threatened strike on Syria, easing the risk of clashes between Western powers and Russia in Syria over an alleged chemical attack.
Talks of the United States re-opening negotiations with the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a multinational trade deal the Trump administration walked away from last year, also helped sentiment.
Among other stocks, Starbucks shares fell 1.3 percent after brokerage Cowen and Co downgraded the stock to “market perform”.
