US stock-index futures gained, with the S&P 500 on track for one of its biggest weekly increases this year, as easing trade tensions between the US and China buoyed appetite for risky assets and traders bet the Federal Reserve will step in to avoid a recession. 

Stocks in Asia remain subdued amid lingering concern over trade wars. The US dollar weakens against all its G-10 peers. The Treasury 10-year yield edges lower after falling 10bps Thursday as traders priced in two rate cuts from the Fed this year.

European assets look set to be in sharper focus, as China's widening trade surplus with the EU is fueling concerns that the bloc risks becoming a dumping ground for cheap goods. On the geopolitical front, hopes for a Ukraine ceasefire faded after Vladimir Putin sent a low-level delegation to talks in Turkey.

Treasuries gained as a fresh spate of economic data offered signs of ebbing economic activity and dimming inflation, supporting bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates twice this year. The dollar dropped against most major currencies.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said policymakers are weighing changes to key parts of the framework that guides their monetary policy decisions, including how they think about shortfalls in US employment and approach their inflation target.