10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Here is what you need to know.

The stock-market meltdow relents with a global rally. Global markets are in rally mode after two days of heavy selling, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+2.12%) pacing the advance in Asia and Britain's FTSE (+0.69%) out front in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open up 1.3% near 2,764.

Trump says he can do 'a lot more' to hurt China's economy if no concessions are made ahead of Xi meeting. "It's had a big impact," Trump told Fox News in regards to the impact of the tariffs he recently placed on China. "Their economy has gone down very substantially and I have a lot more to do if I want to do it.

China posts a record trade surplus with the US. China's trade suplus with the US ballooned to a record $34.13 billion in September, easily surpassing the previous record of $31.05 billion that was set in August, Reuters reports.

Gold logs its biggest gain since Brexit. Thursday's stock-market sell-off sparked a flight to safety that sent the yellow metal up 2.46% to more than $1,224 an ounce, making for the biggest gain since the Brexit vote in June 2016.

The madness in markets has traders paying the most in years to protect against more damage in tech stocks. Skew, or the premium options traders are paying to protect against a 10% loss in the PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF over the next three months, relative to wagers on a similar increase, is at a level only seen a handful of times in the past decade.

Richard Branson and Virgin Group are severing their business relationships with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In a blog post on Virgin Group's website, the company said Virgin Galatic and Virgin Orbit will suspend its discussions with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia in the wake of the disappearance of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi from the Saudi Consulate in Turkey last week.

Sears CEO Eddie Lampert is exploring a bid for some of the company's assets in an alternative bankruptcy scenario. Lampert is considering making a play for Sears' Kenmore appliances brand and home services business in addition to some real estate, creating a scenario that would help the retailer at least initially avoid liquidation, Reuters says, citing sources.

Square has been getting demolished. Shares of the payments company plunged nearly 11% Thursday after the unexpected resignation of CFO Sarah Friar. They have lost more than 30% since hitting a record high on October 1.

The banks kick off earnings season. Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Wells Fargo all report ahead of the opening bell.

US economic data keeps coming. Import and export prices will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and University of Michigan consumer confidence will cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET.