3:54 AM
Wall St futures point to higher open for stocks
Addison Ray
LONDON | Fri Feb 25, 2011 5:20am EST
LONDON (Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Friday, adding to a late rebound in the previous session, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones industrial average and for the Nasdaq up 0.5 to 0.7 percent by 5.02 a.m. EST.
* Early losses on the S&P 500 .SPX, triggered by deepening concerns that higher oil could stifle economic activity, eased in late-day trading on Thursday as Brent crude prices came off 2-1/2 year highs of $120 a barrel.
* The index is down 2.7 percent for this week, partly on worries that political unrest in oil-rich Libya could spread to major oil-producing countries and result in persistently higher energy prices at the expense of fragile global economic growth.
* Brent crude hovered at around $112 on Friday, with the crisis in Libya continuing to underpin prices.
* The U.N. Security Council was to meet on Friday to discuss a draft proposal for sanctions against Libyan leaders, locked in a bloody battle for survival against a popular uprising.
* In company news, Boeing Co (BA.N) rose 3.4 percent after the bell on Thursday as the firm said it won a $30 billion contract for 179 new U.S. Air Force refueling planes.
* Bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc (AIG.N) rose 1.4 percent in extended trade after the firm said it earned $11.2 billion in the fourth quarter on asset sales, though charges to expand its reserves for old asbestos claims pushed its underlying operations into another loss.
* News Corp (NWSA.O) has kicked off the process to explore the sale or spin-off of its troubled social entertainment site, Myspace, a person familiar with the talks said on Thursday.
* Almost a third of Apple (AAPL.O) shareholder votes cast were in favor of a proposal to disclose a succession plan for Chief Executive Steve Jobs, underscoring investors' worries over who will replace the visionary leader at the helm.
* Macroeconomic data due on Friday include U.S. fourth-quarter preliminary gross domestic product (GDP) figures at 8.30 a.m., and February's final Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey at 9.55 a.m.
* Among the companies scheduled to release earnings results include retailer JC Penny (JCP.N)
* In Europe, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 was up 0.5 percent in early trade, taking a breather after a week-long retreat, though trading in British shares was halted due to technical issues on the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L).
(Reporting by Harpreet Bhal)
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