(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures were mildly higher on Friday as stronger-than-expected chinese data lifted economic optimism.
At 8:06 am ET, the S&P 500 futures climbed 1.40 points to 1038.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 1 point to 9545. The Nasdaq Composite futures rose 5.25 points to 1688.
China's industrial output rose 12.3% on year in August, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on Friday. The gain was wider than a 10.8% on-year gain in July and beat consensus expectations of 12.0% .
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday that a number of government rescue efforts are no longer needed as there are significant signs of growing financial market stability.
Late on Thursday, National Semiconductor Corp.(NYSE:
NSM) reported that its fiscal first-quarter profit dropped to $29.8 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with a profit of $79.6 million, or 33 cents a share, in the year-ago period.Revenue declined 32% to $314.4 million from $465.6 million.
General Motors (NYSE:
GM) announced Thursday that it has agreed to sell a major portion of its European Opel division to a consortium led by the Canadian auto supplier Magna, the automaker announced Thursday.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:
ABT) announced Thursday that it agreed to buy surgery-device maker Evalve Inc. for up to $410 million.
Quidel Corp., (NASDAQ:
QDEL) which makes flu tests, announced Thursday that it would post record operating income and revenue in the third-quarter to beat analyst expectations, due to higher demand as fears of the flu spread. Analysts currently expect the company to report earnings of s8 cents per share, with $27.9 million in revenue.
Meanwhile, John Mack announced that he will step down as Morgan Stanley (NYSE:
MS) Chief Executive in January and will be replaced by James Gorman, one of the investment bank's co-presidents.
On the economic front, the preliminary September reading of the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index is due out at 9:55 a.m. EDT. Wholesale inventories data is due for release at 10:00 am ET.
US stocks finished higher on Thursday on better than expected initial claims data and upbeat revenue forecast by Procter and Gamble. Stocks also got a boost after Treasury's auction of $12 billion in reopened 30-year bonds generated stronger-than-expected demand.
European stocks advanced in afternoon trade. At 13:08 pm London time, the UK FTSE gained 34.62 points or 0.69% to 5,022.30. The German DAX and French CAC increased 0.61% and 0.86% respectively.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 fell 69.34 points or 0.66% to 10,444.33. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong rose 91.86 points or 0.44% to 21,161.42.
NYMEX crude oil for October delivery climbed 5 cents to $71.99 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
