US STOCKS-Futures edge higher as investors weigh mixed signals on trade war

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* Futures up: Dow 0.13%, S&P 0.14%, Nasdaq 0.23%

By Akanksha Rana

Aug 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures recovered from

overnight declines on Tuesday, pointing to a positive start for

Wall Street as investors assessed conflicting comments from

Washington and Beijing on their long-drawn trade dispute.

After falling as much as 0.5% in early hours, futures

tracking the S&P 500 ESCv1 pointed to a tiny 0.1% 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 U.S.-China trade tensions have battered

financial markets in the recent days after both sides threatened

to slap tariffs on each other's goods worth billions of dollars.

Wall Street's main indexes 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. However, China's

foreign ministry reiterated on Tuesday that it had not received

any recent telephone call from the United States on trade.

Investors are nervous about 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 U.S. economy for clues on

where interest 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 7:24 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 34 points, or

0.13%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 4 points, or 0.14% and

Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 17.5 points, or 0.23%.

Among stocks, Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N rose 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 4.4% while Endo

International Plc ENDP.O rose 3.8%.

Shares of J. M. Smucker Co SJM.N fell 5.2% after the

packaged food maker reported quarterly sales below estimates.

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