NEW YORK - Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P500 and the Nasdaq 100 are flat to 0.1 percent higher, pointing to a slight rise in equities on Wall Street on Friday.

Miner BHP Billiton's acquisition strategy was back in the spotlight as market talk resurfaced it was looking at a $40 billion-plus bid for Anadarko Petroleum , although banking sources said they were unaware of any imminent offer.

The Institute for Supply Management-New York releases its December index of regional business activity at 8:30 a.m. EST. In the previous month, the index read 485.7.

At 10:30 a.m. EST, Economic Cycle Research Institute releases its weekly index of economic activity for December 24.

Wireless pioneer Craig McCaw, the chairman of Clearwire Corp , has decided to resign from his position effective December 31, the company said in a regulatory filing late Thursday. Clearwire is majority-owned by Sprint Nextel .

Fertilizer producer K+S AG sued Dow Chemical's Rohm & Haas unit, saying that it paid the company too much for its Morton Salt unit and is owed a refund.

A U.S. federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by 10 hedge fund groups accusing German automaker Porsche SE

of cornering the market in shares of Volkswagen AG , resulting in more than $2 billion of damages.

Oil was set to close the year up more than 12 percent and average nearly $80 a barrel -- the second highest yearly average on record -- driven by a resurgence in global demand, an unusually cold winter and falling inventories.

The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares is down 0.2 percent in holiday-thinned trade.

On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 15.67 points, or 0.14 percent, at 11,569.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 1.86 points, or 0.15 percent, at 1,257.92. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 3.95 points, or 0.15 percent, at 2,662.98.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Will Waterman)