Stocks were set for a flat open on Friday as upbeat news from Apple, a technology and retail bellwether, was offset by unexpectedly flat April consumer spending data.

Apple Inc shares rose 2.2 percent to $259 premarket after Asian and European customers mobbed its stores as the iPad tablet computer debuted outside the United States.

Separately, Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised its price target on Apple by $25 to $325 and kept its buy rating.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said it was the first time since September that consumer spending did not increase, but recorded the largest gain in real disposable income in nearly a year.

Spending was down a little, which will disappoint some people, said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial in New York.

For the market, we want to see if there's any follow-through (to) the rally we had yesterday, he said.

U.S. stocks had their second best day of the year on Thursday as concerns eased about China's commitment to euro zone bond holdings.

S&P 500 futures rose 2.5 points and were flat in terms of fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 4 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.25 points.

U.S. markets will be closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.

The euro strengthened slightly versus the U.S. dollar, holding on to Thursday's strong gains as worries over European debt receded, spurring risk appetite.

Without the euro under pressure, I'd expect the market to open a little higher, said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.

May Chicago PMI is due at 9:45 a.m. EDT and the final reading of the May Reuters/University of Michigan U.S. consumer sentiment survey is due at 9:55 a.m. EDT. Economists expect a reading of 73.3, just above the prior 72.2 level.

British insurer Prudential Plc said it was trying to negotiate the $35.5 billion price it agreed to pay for American International Group Inc's Asian unit amid fears that shareholders might block the deal as too expensive.

AIG shares rose 2 percent to $37.17 premarket.

May is on track to be the worst month for stocks since February 2009.

(Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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