(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) U.S. stock futures were pointing to another upbeat trading day on Wall Street Friday after markets recorded solid gains yesterday on news of a ceasefire in Ukraine and a substantial rise in oil prices.
Futures on the three major US market indexes were up around 0.2% premarket. The Dow S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all finished Thursday with their highest closes of the year with 70 stocks hitting new 52-week highs.
On Friday U.S stocks were following gains in Europe and Asia after the eurozone's gross domestic product expanded by a greater than expected 0.3% in the fourth quarter boosted by an acceleration in Germany's growth. Greece stocks were also up strongly on hopes the new leftist government is inching its way closer to a debt compromise deal with its creditors.
Oil prices were up again today with WTI crude in New York rising $1.34 to $52.61 a barrel. Brent crude rose above $60 a barrel today for the first time this year bringing weekly gains to almost 4% supported by signs that deeper industry spending cuts may help curb a supply glut. Gold futures rose $6 to $1227 an ounce.
The week finishes with two economic reports in the U.S. The first revealed that the U.S. import price index fell 2.8% in January. Minus energy the index dropped 0.7%.
At 10:00am ET the University of Michigan's preliminary February consumer sentiment index is to be released which is seen coming in at 98.3 up from January's final 98.1 reading.
In corporate activity J.M. Smucker () fell premarket saying sales fell in its fiscal third quarter on weak volumes in its U.S. retail coffee segment.
() also dropped despite earnings coming in at double estimates as its current quarter forecast fell short of expectations.
() shed more than 12% premarket as the company did not see as much engagement as expected for new offerings and forecast an unexpected loss for the current quarter. Its latest quarterly results matched estimates however.
King Digital (NYSE:KING) surged over 21% after topping estimates on both earnings and revenue helped by growing popularity for newer games and a larger than expected number of active users.
AIG () missed earnings estimates due to lower interest rates and the cost of refinancing its debt. The insurer also announced a $2.5 billion stock buyback program.
(NASDAQ:KRFT) topped quarterly views with its results but also announced a major executive shakeup including the departure of its CFO.
() beat earnings estimates while revenue met forecasts. Results were helped by the addition of Thursday night football and the midterm elections.
Yahoo () is reportedly cutting between 100 and 200 jobs mostly in Canada as the Internet company works to reduce costs.
In other markets Asian stocks closed mostly higher with the Hong Kong index posting its biggest gain in three weeks.
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