Investing.com – U.S. futures rose on Friday, as investors remain optimistic amid upbeat earnings releases and economic data.
The S&P 500 futures increased five points or 0.22% as of 6:47 AM ET (11:47 AM GMT) while Dow futures rose 45 points or 0.19%. Tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures surged 32 points or 0.54%.
Tech stocks were among the biggest movers before the morning bell. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), surged 7.57% after the online retailer posted earnings that far surpassed Wall Street expectations. Social media site Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) continued a second day rally after it also released higher than expected financial results, gaining 0.79% while Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) jumped 4.81% after its third quarter results beat forecasts. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) was also up 3.80% after a strong third quarter while communications firm Nokia (HE:NOKIA) gained 5.46%.
Meanwhile engineering firm Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) decreased 13.13% after a disappointing third quarter and Chinese search engine Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) slumped 8.68% after its revenue missed forecasts.
Earnings season continues, with a number of companies releasing their earnings before the morning bell on Friday, including oil companies Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Exxon (NYSE:XOM).
Investors will be watching for signs of a strengthening economy when the U.S. gross domestic product for the third quarter is released at 8:30 AM ET (1:30 PM GMT) and the Michigan consumer sentiment in October, which is released at 10:00 AM ET (3:00 PM GMT).
European stocks hit a five month high on Friday. Germany’s DAX jumped 97 points or 0.74% while in France the CAC 40 was up 51 points or 0.94% and in London, the FTSE 100 rose 15 points or 0.21%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 rallied 26 points or 0.73% while Spain’s IBEX 35 fell 64 points or 0.63% amid political uncertainty.
In commodities, gold futures inched forward 0.09% to $1,280.11 a troy ounce while crude oil futures jumped 0.17% to $52.27 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, edged up 0.04% to 93.57.