Futures Up as Deficit Narrows

U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly stronger open Friday even as China increased banks' reserve requirements to rein in lending and curb inflation.
By Melinda Peer ,

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- U.S. stock futures pointed to a stronger open Friday despite China's higher bank reserve requirements as the trade deficit narrowed in October and the market expected to see consumers growing more confident about the economy.

Futures for the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

were up by 27 points, or 22 points above fair value, at 11,324. Futures for the

S&P 500

were 4 points higher, or 5 points above fair value, at 1232, and

Nasdaq

futures were ahead by 6 points, or nearly 6 points above fair value.

Stocks ended Thursday's session mixed along the flatline as a better-than-expected drop in initial jobless claims failed to impress the market amid continued uncertainty about the tax cut deal.

China ordered banks to increase their minimum reserves by 0.5% of deposits in its third increase in reserve requirements in five weeks. The market has been expecting Chinese measures to curb growth. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.04% and Japan's Nikkei lost 0.7%.

In Europe, the FTSE in London was up by 0.1% while the DAX in Frankfurt was ahead by 0.7%.

The Department of Commerce said the trade deficit narrowed to $38.7 billion in October from $44.6 billion in September. Economists had expected the deficit to widen to $44.5 billion in October from September's previously reported level of $44 billion.

The Labor Department said import prices, excluding oil, increased 0.8% in November and export prices, excluding agriculture also grew by 0.8%. In October, import prices, excluding oil, rose 0.3%, and export prices, excluding agriculture, increased by 0.6%.

At 9:55 a.m., the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index is projected to jump to 72.5 in December, from 71.6 in November, according to Briefing.com.

The U.S. Treasury Department issues November Treasury budget data at 2 p.m. According to Briefing.com, the November deficit is slated to come in at $134 billion, compared with a deficit of $120.3 billion in November of last year.

Shares of

Tenet Healthcare

(THC) - Get Report

were up 51.3% to $6.49 ahead of Friday's opening bell on news of its unsolicited takeover bid from

Community Health Systems

(CYH) - Get Report

. Community Health's stock was down by 3.6% at $30.50.

China's

Sinopec

(SNP) - Get Report

is snapping up

Occidental Petroleum's

(OXY) - Get Report

oil and gas assets in Argentina for $2.45 billion. Occidental's stock was up 1.7% to $92.57 in early trading and Sinopec's stock was ahead by 0.07% to $91.84.

Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals

(MIPI)

plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following a decision by its bondholders not to accept a $45 million financing commitment from private-equity firm Savitr Capital. The stock was down by 60.8% to 29 cents in premarket trading.

In commodity markets, the January crude oil contract was up by 36 cents to trade at $88.73 a barrel. The most actively traded February gold contract traded $1.40 lower to $1,391.40 an ounce.

The dollar weakened against a basket of currencies with the dollar index down by 0.09%.The benchmark 10-year Treasury note strengthened 3/32, diluting the yield to 3.202%.

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--Written by Melinda Peer in New York

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Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors and reporters from holding positions in any individual stocks.

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