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Futures up: Dow 0.74%, S&P 500 0.99%, Nasdaq 1.37%

May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on

Thursday over optimism that the Trump administration was on the

cusp of a breakthrough on trade policy, while chip stocks gained

after news that a plan for fewer export curbs was in the offing.

President Donald Trump posted late on Wednesday that a news

conference would be held on Thursday "with representatives of a

big, and highly respected, country" about a trade deal, with

reports suggesting this could be the UK. If it goes through, the

trade agreement would be the first since the United States

paused the tariffs he had imposed on world economies last month.

The news followed indications from the administration that

negotiations were underway with partners, but the markets are

yet to see anything concrete on that front.

"Given that full trade deals take years to negotiate, this

will likely be a framework and it will be interesting to see

whether the 10% baseline tariff stays," Deutsche Bank

strategists led by Jim Reid said.

Officials said earlier in the week that representatives from

the U.S. and China would meet over the weekend in Switzerland

for "ice-breaker" trade discussions after weeks of tit-for-tat

tariffs that have sparked worries about global economic growth.

Trump's erratic trade policies and lack of clarity on the

implementation of tariffs have left investors, consumers and the

U.S. Federal Reserve in a wait-and-watch mode.

On Wednesday, the U.S. central bank held interest rates

steady and flagged heightened risks of inflation and

unemployment, further clouding the economic outlook for the

world's biggest economy.

At the Fed's meeting, Chair Jerome Powell said it was

unclear what an appropriate monetary policy response was at the

moment, reiterating the central bank's dependence on data.

Traders now see a rate cut only by September and are pricing

in a total of 75 basis points of lowering by 2025-end, according

to data compiled by LSEG.

"The Fed has always described itself as being

data-dependent, so it should not stall rate cuts due to Trump's

tendencies to use tariff threats as a method to negotiate," said

Eric Sterner, chief investment officer at Apollon Wealth

Management.

At 05:25 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 305 points, or

0.74%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 55.75 points, or 0.99%,

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 272.75 points, or 1.37%.

Semiconductor stocks built on gains from the previous

session. Nvidia ( NVDA ) was up 1.6% in premarket trading,

Broadcom ( AVGO ) rose 2.4% and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD )

advanced 1.9%.

Chip stocks buoyed Wall Street to a higher close on

Wednesday after a spokesperson said the Trump administration was

planning to rescind and modify a rule that curbed the export of

sophisticated artificial-intelligence chips.

As markets move toward the close of earnings season, the

outlook for companies remains a top priority to gauge how they

plan to navigate tariff-induced uncertainty.

Warner Bros. Discovery ( WBD ), Shopify and

ConocoPhillips ( COP ) are among the names scheduled to report

results before markets open.

U.S.-listed shares of Arm plunged 9.6% after the

chipmaker forecast first-quarter revenue and profit below Wall

Street estimates.

Fortinet ( FTNT ) slumped 8.6% after the cybersecurity

firm's second-quarter revenue forecast came in below estimates.