Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Friday, as global equities recovered from losses caused by news the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as soon as next month, while investors eyed comments by Fed officials later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.19% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.24% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.25% increase.
Markets were eyeing comments by a number of Fed officials later Friday, after Fed Chair Janet Yellen surprised markets mid-week by suggesting the possibility of raising interest rates as soon as next year.
U.S. equities found support after data on Thursday showed that U.S. initial jobless claims rose less-then-expected last week, while a separate report showed that manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia-region expanded at a faster rate than expected in March.
Earlier Friday, Fitch Ratings affirmed U.S. long-term foreign and local currency credit ratings at AAA with a stable outlook, taking the country off negative ratings watch.
Separately, the U.S. expanded sanctions to 20 more prominent Russians, including allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid mounting tensions over Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
The tech sector was likely to be in focus, as Symantec Corp. fired President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Bennett after less than two years on the job. The news sent shares in the company down 9.11% in pre-market trade.
Twitter, down 0.60% in early trading, was also expected to be active after the company's users in Turkey reported widespread outages on Friday, hours after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan threatened to shut down access to the social media platform as he battles a corruption scandal.
Elsewhere, AT&T dipped 0.03% in late trading after saying it will start taking pre-orders on Friday for Samsung's Galaxy S5, with the phone selling for $199 with a new two-year contract, or $649 unsubsidized.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Darden Restaurants and Tiffany, scheduled to report quarterly earnings later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 gained 0.69%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.57%, Germany's DAX advanced 0.63%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.43%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.20%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index remained closed for a national holiday.