US Stock Futures Point To Positive Start; Earnings, Data On Housing, Industrial Production, Consumer Sentiment Will Be Watched

Stock futures point to an upbeat opening this Friday, following a mixed outing in the previous session, which was marred by disappointing earnings.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.21 percent and futures on the S&P 500 were up 0.23 percent while those on the Nasdaq were up 0.24 percent.

On the earnings calendar before market hours, the line-up includes General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE), Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB), SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI) and The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE:BK).

Data on housing starts in December is due at 8:30 a.m. followed by the industrial production, or IP, number for November at 9:15 a.m., and the Thomson Reuters-University of Michigan consumer sentiment report for January at 9:55 a.m.

In Europe, stocks were up with the Stoxx Europe 600 index gaining 0.48 percent while the FTSE 100 was up 0.1 percent. Germany’s DAX-30 was up 0.58 percent while France's CAC-40 was up 0.4 percent.

In Asia, markets were mostly down with Japan’s Nikkei falling 0.08 percent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.06 percent. The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.93 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.64 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.66 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.95 percent.