US STOCKS-Wall St set for higher open as stage set for US-Britain trade deal

By Purvi Agarwal and Johann M Cherian

May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes were on track to open higher on Thursday, on news that the United States was on the verge of signing a trade agreement with Britain, while chip stocks rose on the prospect of fewer export curbs on AI semiconductors.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Britain would announce a trade deal at 10 a.m. ET to lower tariffs on some goods. If it goes through, the agreement would be the first since he paused the country-specific tariffs imposed on world economies last month.

The news followed indications from the Trump administration that negotiations with partners were underway, but markets await a concrete announcement on that front.

"The trade deal with the UK is the first announced framework of a deal... after we get some of the details, we'll have a template for what other trade deals may look like," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.

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 talks after weeks of tit-for-tat tariffs that have sparked worries about global economic growth.

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.

Krispy Kreme's DNUT.O shares sank up to 30% in premarket trading after the restaurant chain became the latest to withdraw its full-year forecast.

Meanwhile, data showed that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to 228,000, below an estimate of 230,000, according to economists polled by Reuters.

At 08:32 a.m., Dow E-minis YMcv1 were up 309 points, or 0.75%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 53 points, or 0.94%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 263.25 points, or 1.32%.

The U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday 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.

Semiconductor stocks built on gains from the previous session. Nvidia NVDA.O was up 1.8%, Broadcom AVGO.O rose 2.2% and Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O 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.

Among others, U.S.-listed shares of Arm ARM.O plunged 7.8% after the chipmaker forecast first-quarter revenue and profit below Wall Street estimates.

Tapestry TPR.N added 9.2% after the luxury group raised its annual forecasts , while Warner Bros. Discovery WBD.O slipped 2.8% after missing quarterly revenue estimates.

Fortinet FTNT.O slumped 7.7% after the cybersecurity firm's second-quarter revenue forecast came in below estimates.