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U.S. stock-index futures on Friday morning turned solidly higher on the back of reports that Russia had agreed to talks to possibly end the military conflict in Ukraine that kicked off earlier this week.
“In response to Zelensky’s offer, Vladimir Putin is ready to send to Minsk a Russian delegation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to the Wall Street Journal blog, citing a Russian news agencies.
A report from the Associated Press indicated said that Russia was ready to send a delegation to Belarus for talks with Ukrainian officials following its invasion.
The reports come as the clash in Eastern Europe was intensifying with Russian forces closing in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, while the capital’s defenders dug into positions along its forested edge and prepared to blow up bridges.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
YM00,
DJIA,
were up 159 points, or 0.5%, to reach 33,317, those for the S&P 500 index
ES00,
SPX,
were up 0.6% at 4,308, while Nasdaq-100 futures
NQ00,
NQH22,
were climbing 0.7% to 14,068.
On Thursday, the Dow snapped a five-session losing streak, closing up 92.07 points, or 0.3%, at 33,223.83, after falling as far as 2.6% in morning trading. The S&P 500 climbed 63.2 points, or 1.5%, finishing at 4,288.70, but in correction territory, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 436.1 points, or 3.3%, ending at 13,473.59, but bouncing off a session low at 12,587.88.
