Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were signaling a higher start for Wall Street on Friday as markets across the globe got a bounce from moves Thursday by the Federal Reserve to prop up the U.S. economy.

The Fed announced an open-ended plan to purchase $40 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities per month and extended its pledge to keep interest rates at their zero levels until at least mid-2015.

European stocks were moving sharply higher, while Asian shares rallied. Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.8% to close Friday at 9,159.39.

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The economic calendar in the U.S. on Friday includes retail sales and the consumer price index for August at 8:30 a.m. EDT, industrial production and capacity utilization for August at 9:15 a.m., the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for September at 9:55 a.m. , and business inventories for July at 10 a.m.

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U.S. stocks on Thursday soared after the Fed more than fulfilled expectations for another round of quantitative easing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up more than 206 points, or 1.55%, at 13,540. The day's intraday peak of 13,573 was the blue-chip index's highest level since December 2007.

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Home Depot (HD), the No. 1 home-improvement retailer, said Friday it will close its seven remaining big box stores in China and cut 850 jobs.

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Ford's (F) board may name CEO Alan Mulally as non-executive chairman to keep him involved with automaker after he leaves the top post, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

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Goldman Sachs (GS) is doing away with two-year contracts for most analysts hired out of college, according to communications reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The move was confirmed by a Goldman spokesman.

"We think the historic two-year program is no longer the best approach for hiring and developing the careers of analysts in our banking and investment-management divisions," the Goldman spokesman told the newspaper. "Making this change allows us to emphasize the longer-term career opportunities available at the firm."

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