US equity futures were rising pre-bell Thursday as technology stocks drove new record highs for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite while traders kept a close eye on the high-stakes meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.8% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.3% higher.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 advanced nearly 0.6% to close at 7,444.25, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.2% to end at 26,402.34, with both setting new closing records. Cisco Systems (CSCO) shares were up 15% after the company posted higher fiscal Q3 results and announced restructuring plans that included lay-offs of nearly 4,000 employees.

At the start of a two-day summit, Xi told Trump that US-China trade talks were progressing positively, but warned that disagreement over Taiwan could lead to a dangerous situation and even cause conflict.

Traders also mulled the latest round of earnings, with Brookfield (BN) reporting higher Q1 distributable earnings and revenue.

Oil prices were lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 0.7% at $104.90 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 0.7% lower at $100.33 per barrel.

US retail sales rose by 0.5% in April, as expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:35 am ET and following the previous month's 1.6% gain.

US import prices rose by 1.9% in April, above the 1% increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:35 am ET and faster than a 0.9% gain in March.

US initial jobless claims rose to a level of 211,000 in the week ended May 9 from a downwardly revised 199,000 level in the previous week, compared with expectations for a smaller increase to 205,000 in survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

Federal Reserve Kansas City President Jeffrey Schmid, Cleveland President Beth Hammack, New York President John Williams, and Governor Michael Barr are slated to speak on Thursday.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 1% lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended flat, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 1.5% lower. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was up 0.4%, and Germany's DAX index was 1.3% higher in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, Nvidia (NDA), Applied Materials (AMAT), and Marvell Technology (MRVL) joined Cisco in an upswing of technology stocks that lifted the market. Nvidia stock was up 2.1%, Applied Materials shares rose 1.9%, and Marvell stock was up 2.8%.

On the losing side, Alibaba (BABA) and JD.com (JD) shares were down 3.1% and 1.7%, respectively, after a Reuters report said that they were among the roughly 10 Chinese companies that have secured US clearance to purchase Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chip, without a single delivery being made so far.