LONDON (Reuters) � Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were up 0.5-0.7 percent, pointing to a firmer start on Wall Street on Friday.
The Institute for Supply Management was set to release its September manufacturing index at 1400 GMT. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 54.5 versus 56.3 in August.
Chinese manufacturing picked up steam in September after a mid-year lull, easing concerns of a renewed downturn in global growth, although other leading Asian economies showed some signs of softer business activity.
Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers will release final September consumer sentiment index at 1355 GMT. Economists expect a reading of 67.0 compared with 66.6 in the preliminary September report.
Shares in Hewlett-Packard fell more than 3 percent in extended trade on Thursday after the company named former SAP
Chief Executive Leo Apotheker as its new CEO and president.
The Commerce Department was scheduled to release at 1230 GMT August personal income and consumption data. Economists in a Reuters survey expect both income and spending to increase 0.3 percent. In July, income rose 0.2 percent and spending was up 0.4 percent.
At 1400 GMT, the Commerce Department releases August construction spending. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a fall of 0.4 percent compared with a 1.0 percent drop in July. * Resource-related stocks will be in focus as crude oil prices rose back above $80 a barrel to a seven-week high on hopes of demand recovery in the world's largest consumers.
AIG named a new acting head for its Taiwan unit Nan Shan Life in a move that analysts said paves the way for AIG to sell the unit again following the collapse of an earlier $2.2 billion deal.
At 1430 GMT, Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) releases its weekly index of economic activity for September 24. In the prior week, the index read 122.2.
European shares rose on Friday after falling in the previous four sessions. Forecast-beating China manufacturing data fueled gains that were led by commodities stocks.
Japan's Nikkei rose 0.4 percent on Friday, boosted by short-covering after sharp falls the previous day and after better-than-expected U.S. economic data provided a degree of optimism.
Wall Street wrapped up its best quarter in a year on Thursday with the S&P and Nasdaq logging in the biggest monthly gains since April 2009, as data showed the economy is not in such bad shape.
Defying September's track record as the worst month for stocks, the S&P 500 was up 8.8 percent. In the third quarter, the index gained 10.7 percent, which was the best in a year.
(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Michael Shields)
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