US Stock Futures Signal Higher Open Ahead Of Producer Price Index, Federal Budget Report

The U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open Friday ahead of the Labor Department's Producer Price Index and the Treasury Department’s Federal budget report.

The futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.14 percent, the futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were up 0.25 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 Index were up 0.12 percent.

Investors are expected to focus Friday on the Producer Price Index, which measures the change in the price of goods sold by manufacturers. The index, a leading indicator of consumer price inflation, is expected to rise 0.7 percent in September after a 1.7 percent increase in August.

The Department of the Treasury will issue the Federal budget report Friday, which measures the difference in the value between the federal government's income and expenditures. The federal budget surplus in September is expected to have grown to $42 billion, up from the $191 billion deficit in August.

On Thursday, the U.S. markets remained flat as investors maintained a cautious mode with the revival of concerns about weakening global economic growth. Meanwhile, the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims data reported Thursday that the jobs market was improving. The initial jobless claims report, which measures the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time last week, rose to 339,000 in the week ending Oct. 6, down from 367,000 in the previous week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.14 percent, the S&P 500 Index was up 0.02 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.08 percent.

European markets fell Friday as investor confidence was weighed down with the revival of concerns over the debt crisis affecting the euro zone due to the delay in Spain asking for an official bailout. Investors sense that the delay has not helped facilitate any improvement in Spain’s economic and fiscal outlook.

London's FTSE 100 was down 13.76 points, Germany's DAX 30 index fell 21.20 points and France's CAC 40 declined 18.03 points.

Asian stocks rose Friday as investor sentiment turned positive with the drop in the U.S. jobless claims indicating that the labor market in the world’s largest economy is improving. Meanwhile, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) left its policy stance unchanged on Friday.