Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Friday, as Thursday's upbeat U.S. data confirmed the view that the U.S. economic recovery is on track, while markets eyed additional U.S. data to be released later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.18% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.21% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.22% increase.
U.S. equities found support after preliminary data on Thursday showed that the U.S. economy grew more than expected in the second quarter, while a separate report showed that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits declined unexpectedly last week.
Investors were also focusing on developments in Ukraine after the nation's President Petro Poroshenko said Russian troops have "de facto" entered his country.
The United Nations Security Council was to hold an emergency meeting later Friday, while the U.S. said the U.S. said thay it has a "range of options" to help Ukraine.
Tech stocks were expected to be active, as Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares rose 0.29% in pre-market trade following reports the company's X laboratory division is developing drones that can handle deliveries, a move tto compete with rival Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s own shipment service.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) gained 0.42% in early trading as the tech giant is reportedly planning to introduce a wearable gadget along with new iPhones on September 9.
In the auto sector, Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) saw shares jump 0.92% in extended trade after the electric automaker signed an agreement with mobile-phone company China United Network Communications (SS:600050) to build 400 charging points in 120 Chinese cities.
Elsewhere, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was likely to be in focus as New York regulators were said to be threatening to disrupt the company's acquisition of Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) unless the two groups agree to costly concessions.
If New York rejects the acquisition, the cable providers could be forced to abandon the $42.5 billion deal.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were steady to higher. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 edged up 0.12%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.03%, Germany's DAX inched 0.02% higher, while Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.10%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng eased up 0.04%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.23%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report on personal spending and revised data from the University of Michigan on consumer sentiment.