U.S. Stock Futures Signal Higher Wall Street Open

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open for equities on Wall Street Friday, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 up 0.6-0.7 percent.

The Commerce Department releases September retail sales figures at 1230 GMT. Economists expected sales to rise 0.7 percent, versus an unchanged reading in August. Excluding automobiles, sales were expected to rise 0.3 percent, versus a 0.1 percent increase in August.

The Labor Department releases import-export prices for September. Economists predicted a 0.3 percent drop in import prices and a 0.2 percent increase in export prices. In August, import prices fell 0.4 percent and export prices were up 0.5 percent.

Top toymaker Mattel reports results for the third quarter. Investors will look for signs of its ability to sustain margins in the face of high product and labor costs, and its view of sales in the holiday season.

At 1355 GMT, Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers release preliminary October consumer sentiment index. Economists expected a reading of 60.2, compared with 59.4 in the final September report.

Beverage and snack food maker PepsiCo is close to setting up a joint venture with German dairy company Theo Muller Group in an effort to break into the fast-growing yogurt business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people briefed on the matter.

The Commerce Department issues at 1400 GMT Business Inventories for August. Economists in a Reuters survey expected a rise of 0.4 percent, a repeat of the July increase.

Apple's latest iPhone went on sale on Friday.

At 1430 GMT, Economic Cycle Research Institute releases its weekly index of economic activity for October 7. In the prior week the index read 121.2.

Google's results trounced Wall Street expectations with the help of strong advertising sales and deft cost controls, driving its shares roughly 6 percent higher on Thursday.

The euro zone debt crisis will dominate a summit of G20 finance chiefs and central bank heads in Paris, with a downgrade of Spain's credit rating highlighting the risk of a much larger economy than Greece coming under threat.

Standard and Poor's cut Spain's credit rating on Friday, sending the euro lower and underlining the challenges facing Europe's big powers as they prepare to meet G20 counterparts over the euro-zone debt crisis.

China's consumer inflation dipped to 6.1 percent in September, retreating further from three-year highs, although stubborn food price pressures will deter the central bank from loosening its policy reins anytime soon.

Fitch downgraded Swiss bank UBS on Thursday and said it was also reviewing ratings for Barclays , BNP Paribas , Credit Suisse Group AG , Deutsche Bank , Societe Generale , Bank of America Corp , Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs .

European shares rose on Friday morning after Google's results helped ease worries about the growth outlook for technology companies. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top shares was up 0.6 percent.

The Dow and S&P 500 slipped on Thursday after JPMorgan's earnings and China's soft trade data revived worries about the impact of slower growth on profits.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 40.72 points, or 0.4 percent, to end at 11,478.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> shed 3.59 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,203.66. But the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 15.51 points, or 0.0 percent, to close at 2,620.24.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Dan Lalor)