Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a moderately higher open on Friday, after mostly positive U.S. data released on Thursday continued to support and as markets awaited a report on U.S. home sales later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.08% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.12% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.18% increase.
The outlook for U.S. economic growth improved after the National Association of Realtors on Thursday said existing home sales increased 1.3% in April to an annual rate of 4.65 million units, indicating that the housing market is regaining momentum.
A separate report showed that U.S. manufacturing activity expanded at a faster rate than expected this month.
However, the Labor Department reported that the number of people filing for initial jobless benefits last week increased by 28,000 to 326,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 298,000.
General Electric (NYSE:GE) was set to be in the spotlight once again, after the company agreed to a French government request to extend by three weeks the deadline for its planned $17 billion purchase of Alstom (PARIS:ALSO)'s energy units.
Reynolds American (NYSE:RAI), the maker of Camel cigarettes, was also likely to be in focus amid reports it has been considering the purchase of Lorillard for several months but found its efforts were stymied by the complexity of a potential agreement.
In the tech sector, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) rose 0.22% in pre-market trade after Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman announced more job cuts ahead after 11 consecutive quarters of declining sales.
On Thursday, the computer hardware and services reported second-quarter revenue of $27.3 billion, versus estimates of $27.4 billion.
Elsewhere, Aeropostale (NYSE:ARO) saw shares dive 15.49% in extended trade after the retailer late Thursday forecast a bigger loss than estimated.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Foot Locker (NYSE:FL), scheduled to report quarterly earnings later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to higher. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 edged up 0.07%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.10%, Germany's DAX rose 0.25%, while Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.23%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng inched up 0.05%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.87%.