US stock futures slightly rise, shutdown talks expected today

US stock-index futures rose, pointing out the Standard & Poors 500 index could trim its weekly decline as investors are focused on expected talks to end the government shutdown and raise the debt limit.

S&P 500 futures expiring in December added 0.2% to 1,673.3 at 7:05 a.m. New York time as House Republicans prepared to meet at 10 a.m. in Washington. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts advanced 6 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 14,912. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index picked up 4.75 points, or 0.2%, to 3,207.00.

“Posturing aside, I think a resolution is on its way,” said to Bloomberg Manish Singh, who helps manage $2 billion as head of investments at Crossbridge Capital in London. “It’s good that the House speaker is determined to prevent a U.S. default even if the debt-ceiling bill does not have majority Republican support. A federal default is a bigger concern for markets than the budget disagreement.”

The failure to agree on a budget has raised concern that Democrats and Republicans will be unable to make progress on a deal to increase the debt limit. President Barack Obama last night called off a trip to Asia scheduled for next week so he can focus on the talks.

Due to the shutdown, the monthly non-farm payrolls report and unemployment rate reading wont be released on Friday as scheduled.

In corporate news, Facebook Inc. shares rose 1% in pre-market trade, after the social network’s Instagram service said Thursday that people will start seeing ads in their photo-sharing feeds.

Forest Oil Corp. is expected to be among notable movers. Its shares surged after hours on Thursday after the oil-and-gas exploration-and-production company announced it was selling off some assets in the Texas panhandle for $1 billion.

Twitter released the filing for its initial public offering today. The social media company did not specify the amount of shares or price range, but set a maximum amount for the deal at $1 billion