US STOCKS-Wall Street set to continue strong weekly showing as trade, inflation jitters ease

• Futures up: Dow 0.36%, S&P 500 0.39%, Nasdaq 0.43%
• Charter Communications rises after co to buy Cox Communications
• UnitedHealth up after dropping 11% on Thursday

May 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to open higher on Friday, building on this week's gains fueled by a U.S.-China tariff truce and tamer inflation data, while a vote on President Donald Trump's sweeping tax legislation was also in focus.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington cautioned that Friday's planned vote on the tax bill might be delayed due to opposition to the measure.

All three main indexes were poised for robust weekly gains. The market found its footing earlier in the week, rallying on Monday and Tuesday after Washington and Beijing agreed to a 90-day pause in their escalating trade war.

This early-week surge successfully propelled the S&P 500 .SPX back into positive territory year-to-date – the first time it's seen green since late February. It, however, remains about 4% away from its all-time highs.

"The combination of a deal with the UK and taking a step back from the untenable China tariffs certainly lays out a road map that we can get multiple bilateral trade deals accomplished and that's the largest of the positive catalyst," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.

Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had announced a limited bilateral trade agreement last week.

On the economic docket, University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment reading for May is due at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Data from earlier in the week showed U.S. retail sales growth losing steam in April, while consumer prices staged a moderate rebound.

Focus would also be on comments from Federal Reserve policymakers, with at least two officials including Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin slated to speak throughout the day.

At 08:26 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were up 152 points, or 0.36%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 23.25 points, or 0.39% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 92 points, or 0.43%.

Most megacap and growth stocks swung higher in premarket trading, with Alphabet GOOGL.O leading gains with a 2.2% rise.

Big Tech was one of the biggest drivers on Wall Street this week. The information technology sector .SPLRCT was heading towards an 8% gain, a weekly jump echoing the surge seen when traders first seized on clear signals the White House was ready to dial back its trade hostilities with Beijing.

Vistra VST.N jumped 4.7% after the utility said it would acquire seven natural gas generation facilities, with a combined capacity of nearly 2,600 megawatt, from Lotus Infrastructure Partners for $1.9 billion.

Estee Lauder EL.N advanced 3.5% after Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management bought shares in the cosmetics company.

Shares of UnitedHealth UNH.N rose 3% after a near 11% drop in the last session, when the stock was rocked after a report the U.S. Department of Justice had begun a criminal investigation into the insurer.

Applied Materials AMAT.O slipped 4% after the chipmaking equipment maker missed estimates for second-quarter revenue.

Charter Communications CHTR.O rose 4.2% after the media company said it would buy privately held rival Cox Communications for $21.9 billion.