U.S. futures higher ahead of data; Dow Jones up 0.32%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Friday, as markets eyed the release of U.S. economic reports, while U.S. budget talks were set to continue later in the day.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.32% increase, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.29% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.14% gain.

Sentiment remained supported after euro zone finance ministers agreed on Thursday to immediately disburse EUR34.4 billion in bailout funds for Greece. The announcement came one day after a long-awaited deal on rules for supervising euro zone banks was concluded.

Investor confidence also strengthened after HSBC’s December flash reading of the China purchasing managers index came in at 50.9, topping the consensus estimate of 50.8 and the 50.5 November reading.

Meanwhile, investor focus shifted back to negotiations to avoid the U.S. fiscal cliff, amid concerns that the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to take effect in early 2013 could derail the U.S. recovery.

Tech stocks were expected to be active, after Apple released its iPhone 5 in China. The company's shares dropped 0.65% pre-market, nonetheless.

Pharmaceutical companies were also likely to be in focus, after the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer's U.S. initial public offering of its animal health unit Zoetis is likely by January or February and should raise about USD4 billion.

Separately, KKR & Co LP reportedly jumped into the auction for the fiber-optics business sold by Australia's Leighton Holdings.

In the financial sector, Bank of America was up 0.28% in after-hour trade after saying on Thursday that bond insurer MBIA was in default on some of its debt and filing a lawsuit related to changes in that debt.

Elsewhere in company news, Sprint Nextel Corp's USD2.1 billion offer to buy out Clearwire Corp was set to remain in focus as some shareholders said on Thursday that they wanted more money while Softbank set a cap on how much Sprint could pay.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 added 0.11%, France’s CAC 40 inched up 0.02%, Germany's DAX rose 0.28%, while Britain's FTSE 100 eased up 0.01%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.71%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dipped 0.05%.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce official data on consumer inflation, the capacity utilization rate, industrial production and preliminary data on manufacturing activity.