Investing.com – U.S. Futures pointed to a slightly higher opening bell on Friday, as investors shake off concern about increased interest rates.
The S&P 500 futures rose seven points or 0.26% to 2,718.50 as of 6:40 AM ET (11:40 GMT) while Dow futures increased 99 points or 0.40% to 25,120.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures was up 22 points or 0.33% to 6,811.0.
Worry over increased interest rates rose earlier in the week after hawkish minutes from the Federal Reserve showed members saw an uptick in inflation. A recent batch of stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation data has bolstered bets that the Fed could increase interest rates as many as four times this year, more than the three it currently forecasts.
Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ:HMNY) was among the biggest gainers in pre-market trading, rising 2.85% after the company announced it was increasing its ownership of MoviePass. IT firm Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) surged 9.99% after an upbeat earnings release, while education publisher Pearson (LON:PSON) PLC ADR (NYSE:PSO) increased 2.87% after it posted higher than expected earnings.
Elsewhere Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) was down 0.06% after sinking 6.1% on Thursday when Kylie Jenner tweeted that she no longer uses the social media app. Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) B PLC (NYSE:RDSb) fell 0.17% while Micro Focus International (LON:MCRO) PLC ADR (NYSE:MFGP) slipped 1.24%.
In earnings news, the Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY) and Cinemark Holdings Inc (NYSE:CNK) all release their results, while Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) will release an update on Saturday.
In Europe stocks were mixed. Germany’s DAX rose four points or 0.03% while in France the CAC 40 decreased five points or 0.11% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down nine points or 0.04%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost six points or 0.20% while Spain’s IBEX 35 slumped 83 points or 0.85%.
In commodities, gold futures were down 0.08% to $1,331.60 a troy ounce while crude oil futures fell 0.51% to $62.45 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was rose 0.21% to 89.85.