Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2 to 0.3 percent at 4:54 a.m. ET, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street on Friday.

At 8:30 a.m. ET, Commerce Dept releases April retail sales. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a 0.2 percent rise compared with a 1.9 percent increase in March. Excluding automobiles, sales are seen up 0.4 percent compared with a 0.9 percent rise in the prior month.

Department store operator JC Penney is scheduled to announce results. Wall Street has priced in earnings of 25 cents per share for the April quarter, up from 11 cents per share a year ago.

Federal Reserve releases at 9:15 a.m. ET industrial production and capacity utilization data for April. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a 0.6 percent rise in production and a reading of 73.7 percent for capacity utilization.

Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers release at 9:55 a.m. ET the May preliminary consumer sentiment index. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 73.5 compared with 72.2 in the final April report.

Political pressure mounted on Friday for BP to show progress plugging a massive oil leak while residents of coastal Florida, Mississippi and Alabama learned the growing pool of oil from the leak would not strike their beaches before late on Saturday.

U.S. prosecutors are conducting a broad criminal investigation of six major Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc , to determine if they misled investors, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The others are Deutsche Bank AG , UBS AG , Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc , the source said.

At 10 a.m. ET, U.S. Commerce Dept issues Business Inventories for March. Economists expect a rise of 0.4 percent versus a 0.5 percent rise in the prior month.

At 10:30 a.m. ET, Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) releases its weekly index of economic activity for the week ended May 7. In the prior week the index read 134.7.

The euro languished near a 14-month low versus the dollar and European shares fell on Friday on speculation that fiscal austerity in some euro zone countries may stifle economic growth.

The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares was down 1.3 percent in morning trade on Friday, while Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> lost 1.5 percent.

Resource-related stocks will be in focus as U.S. crude oil tumbled to a three-month low below $74 a barrel on Friday on concerns that the European debt crisis would curb global growth and energy demand.

Gold priced in euros, sterling and Swiss francs hit record highs on Friday, with risk-averse investors seeking hard assets.

Nvidia Corp shares fell 2.4 percent to $14.30 in extended trade on Thursday after the graphics chip maker posted first-quarter earnings and gave second-quarter guidance.

Nordstrom Inc shares slipped 2.2 percent to $40.40 late in the previous session after the upscale retailer posted first-quarter earnings and provided guidance for its full-year 2010.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as downbeat comments on the economy from tech company Cisco Systems Inc and retail chain Kohl's Corp cast doubt on the strength of the U.S. recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 113.96 points, or 1.05 percent, to end at 10,782.95. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 14.23 points, or 1.21 percent, to 1,157.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 30.66 points, or 1.26 percent, to close at 2,394.36.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Hans Peters)

Retail sales Florida