U.S. stock futures rose Friday after strong corporate earnings reports and a buyout offer for Clorox.
Better-than-expected financial reports from Google Inc., Mattel Inc. and Citigroup Inc. boosted prices for those companies ahead of Friday's opening.
Rising stock index futures put the market on track for its first daily gain this week, a welcome reversal after markets fell during four of the previous five sessions.
Still, the key market indicators are headed for their biggest weekly losses this year. This weeks' dive followed two strong weeks that appeared to reverse a two-month slump. Investors are edgy about a spreading debt crisis in Europe, the budget impasse in Washington and economic uncertainty after last week's dismal jobs report.
Ahead of opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 42 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,424. Standard & Poor's 500 futures increased 4, or 0.3 percent, to 1,311. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 14, or 0.6, to 2,348.
The government said early Friday that consumer prices excluding food and energy rose in June at the fastest pace in three years as people paid more for autos, clothes and housing. Overall prices fell modestly because of falling fuel prices.
Citigroup Inc. shares rose 3 percent in premarket trading after the bank said that its net income increased in the second quarter because fewer borrowers are defaulting on their loans.
Mattel Inc. shares rose 2 percent ahead of the opening after the company said its net income rose 56 percent in the second quarter, helped by strong demand for Barbie and "Cars 2" toys.
Google futures leaped 13 percent, the most in the S&P 500 index, after the company said its net income increased 36 percent from the year-ago quarter, far more than analysts expected, and revenue hit an all-time high. Google reported after the markets closed Thursday.
Clorox Co. shares surged 11 percent in premarket trading, making it the S&P's second-biggest gainer, after billionaire investor Carl Icahn offered to take the company private in a deal that values the household products company at $10.2 billion. He offered 12 percent more for shares than they were worth at Thursday's close.
The Federal Reserve is also reporting Friday on the output of the nation's factories, mines and utilities in June. Economists expect that increased output by auto makers pushed factory output up for the second straight month after it dipped in April for the first time in 11 months.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.95 from 2.92 a day earlier. Bond yields rise as demand for them falls, forcing borrowers to pay bondholders higher interest rates.