U.S. Day Ahead: Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, Trade Balance in Focus

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a lower opening Friday after eurozone finance ministers asked Athens for more cuts to release the second bailout package.

Futures on the S&P 500 are down 0.59 percent, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 0.47 percent and Nasdaq100 futures are down 0.44 percent.

Greek politicians Thursday agreed on further austerity cuts totaling EUR 3.3 billion in order to secure a second bailout. The deal was intended to unlock EUR130bn in new loans and save Greece from a potentially disastrous default.

However, eurozone finance ministers gave a lukewarm response and suggest that they will need much stronger commitment from all political parties and the parliament before providing the financing, said a note from Credit Agricole Research.

On the economic front, investors are likely to focus on Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index and Trade balance reports.

After narrowing in the June-October period, the U.S. trade deficit widened in November and is expected to further widen in December as imports outpaced exports. Economists are forecasting that trade deficit in December to widen to $48.8 billion from $47.8 billion in the previous month.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index for February is due to be released after the markets open. The index is expected to show that confidence levels slip 74 from in February from last month's 75.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke speaks on Housing Markets in Transition before the 2012 National Association of Homebuilders International Builders' Show at 1730 GMT.

Stocks to Watch:

NYSE Euronext (NYX) is due to report fourth quarter earnings before the opening bell Friday. Analysts, polled by Thomson Reuters, expect the company, on average, to report a fourth quarter net income of $0.48 per share compared to $0.46 per share in the same quarter last year.

FLIR Systems Inc. (FLIR) is due to report fourth quarter earnings before the opening bell. Analysts expect the company to report fourth quarter earnings per share of $0.45 compared to $0.43 in the same quarter last year

LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) shares climbed 8.85 percent to $83.15 in post market trading session. The company reported fourth quarter adjusted net income of $13.3 million or $0.12 per share against analysts' estimation of $0.07 per share. The company also expects fiscal 2012 revenues to be in a range of $840 to $860 million against analysts' estimation of $828.19 million.

Exide Technologies (XIDE) stock slumped 18.80 percent to $3.24 in post market trading session as its third quarter revenue fell short of expectations. Revenue declined to $784.05 million from $800.30 million in the same period last year, while analysts expected the company to report quarterly revenues of $846.97 million.

Sierra Wireless, Inc. (SWIR) stock climbed 12.5 percent to $8.46 in post market trading session. The company reported fourth quarter net profit of $0.08 per share compared to $0.16 per share in the same quarter a year-earlier and against analysts' estimation of $0.08 per share.

For the first quarter, the company expects earnings to be in a range of $0.06 to $0.10 per share on revenues of $143 to $148 million, while analysts 'expect the company to report quarterly net profit of $0.02 per share on revenues of 141.64 million for the first quarter.