US stock futures edged lower on Friday as worse than expected retail sales data dampened investor's sentiment.

At 8:32 am ET, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in December fell 14.40 points to 893.30. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 154 points to 8676. Nasdaq Composite Index futures shrank 17.50 points to 1217.

A release by Department of Commerce on Friday showed retail sales declined by a record 2.8% in October. Economists had forecast a drop of 2.3%.

A separate release by U.S. Department of Labor showed U.S. October import prices fell 4.7%, the largest drop ever. The report showed U.S. October import prices ex-fuels declined 0.8%.  

Early on Friday, retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) announced that its third-quarter earnings fell to $63.9 million, or 72 cents a share, from $117.6 million, or $1.29, in the same quarter in 2007. Revenue dropped 8% to $896.3 million from $973.9 million. Analysts on an average expected the company to earn 72 cents a share on revenue of $917.0 million.

J.C. Penney Co.'s (NYSE JCP), third-quarter net income declined to $124 million or 56 cents a share, from $261 million, or $1.17 a share in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Sales fell to $4.32 billion from $4.73 billion. The company also lowered its outlook for fourth quarter. Consensus expectations were for net earnings of 53 cents a share.

Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) reported that its third quarter net loss widened to $25.3 billion, or $19.44 a share, from a loss of $1.2 billion, or $2.07 a share in the same period, a year ago.

Late on Thursday, department store chain Kohl's Corp (NYSE: KSS) said that its third quarter profit fell by 17% to $160.2 million, or 52 cents a share from $194 million, or 61 cents a share in the same quarter in 2007. Nordstrom Inc (NYSE: JWN) reported that its third quarter net income dropped by 57% to $71 million, or 33 cents a share, from $166 million, or 68 cents a share in the same quarter last year. Both Kohl's and Nordstorm lowered their earnings guidance for fourth quarter.

In a filing with regulator, Citigroup (NYSE: C) said Chief Executive Vikram Pandit and three executives bought a total of 1.3 million shares in the U.S. bank on Thursday. Meanwhile according to reports, Citi is planning to further cut jobs by 10,000 globally.

On Friday, Sun Microsystems Inc (NASDAQ: JAVA) announced it would slash 5,000 to 6,000 jobs or 15%-18% of its global workforce.

Money market rates climbed higher. According to the British Bankers' Association, the London interbank offered rate, or LIBOR for three month loan climbed 9 basis points to 2.24% on Friday. The overnight rate rose 1 basis points to 0.40%. The Libor-OIS spread widened 7 basis points to 167 basis points.

On the front of economic data, Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment is due at 10:00 a.m ET.

A release by Luxembourg-based Eurostat on Friday showed eurozone's G.D.P contracted 0.2% in third quarter as financial crisis intensified. The economy shrank 0.2 in previous quarter as well. This is for the first time after its formation in 1999 that 15 nation Eurozone has fallen into recession. Recession is technically defined as two consecutive quarters of declining G.D.P.

European stocks advanced in afternoon trade. At 12:22 London time, The U.K. FTSE rose 161.46 points or 3.87% to 4,330.67. The German DAX and French CAC gained 3.87% and 2.61% respectively.

Asian stocks climbed higher on Friday. The Nikkei 225 rose 223.75 points or 2.72% to 8,462.39. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 321.31 points or 2.43% to 13,542.66.

NYMEX Crude oil for December delivery fell as much as $1.13, or 1.9%, to $57.11.

Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.