US STOCKS-Wall St set to open higher, investors assess trade developments

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window)
* J. M. Smucker falls after forecast cut, earnings
disappoint
* J&J up after opioid lawsuit decision
* Consumer confidence data due at 10:00 am ET
* Futures up: Dow 0.35%, S&P 0.38%, Nasdaq 0.58%

(Adds comments, details; Updates prices)
By Akanksha Rana
Aug 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes were set to open
higher on Tuesday, with futures recovering from overnight
declines, as investors pinned their hopes on a resolution to the
protracted U.S.-China trade dispute despite mixed signals from
both sides.
After falling as much as 0.5% in early hours, futures
tracking the S&P 500 ESCv1 pointed to a 0.4% gain at the open
as global stock markets took comfort from data showing China's
industrial companies returned to profit in July and a rally in
European stocks. MKTS/GLOB
An escalation in the trade tensions between Washington and
Beijing has hit financial markets in the recent days after both
sides threatened to slap tariffs on each other's goods worth
billions of dollars.
Wall Street closed up more than 1% on Monday after U.S.
President Donald Trump sought to ease tensions by predicting
another round of talks with Beijing, although China's foreign
ministry reiterated on Tuesday that it had not received any
recent telephone call from the United States on trade.
"It's (sentiment) still largely about trade and prospects of
a deal with China and the markets are driven more by hope than
anything else at this point," said Scott Brown, chief economist
at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Investors have been fretting over a deepening trade row
hurting corporate profits and global growth, and the lack of
clarity on the pace of U.S. interest rate cuts have only added
to the woes.
With the next Federal Reserve meeting scheduled next month,
investors are gauging the strength of the U.S. economy for clues
on where rates are headed. Data from the Commerce Department,
due at 10:00 a.m. ET (14:00 GMT), is likely to show that
consumer confidence index dropped to 129.5 in August from 135.7
in July.
At 8:59 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 91 points, or
0.35%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 11 points, or 0.38% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 44.25 points, or 0.58%.
Among stocks, Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N rose 1.2% premarket
after an Oklahoma judge said the drugmaker must pay $572.1
million for its part in fueling the U.S. opioid epidemic, a sum
that was substantially less than investors had expected.
Other drugmakers that sell opioid painkillers and are
defending against similar lawsuits were also higher. Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd TEVA.N gained 3.1% while Endo
International Plc ENDP.O rose 2.7%.
Shares of J. M. Smucker Co SJM.N fell 5.6% after the
packaged food maker cut its full-year earnings forecast and
missed estimates for quarterly profit and sales. Papa John's International Inc's PZZA.O shares gained 5.7%
after the pizza chain named Arby's Restaurant Group Inc
President Rob Lynch as its chief executive officer.