Investing.com – U.S. futures were higher on Friday, as investors wait for economic data amid a shortened trading day.
The S&P 500 futures inched forward six points or 0.26% as of 6:49 AM ET (11:49 AM GMT) while Dow futures rose 59 points or 0.25%. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures increased eight points or 0.13%.
Markets are opening after being closed for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Trading will be thin, however, as many exchanges close early.
The top gainers in pre-market trading included pharmaceutical firm Teva Pharma Industries Ltd ADR (NYSE:TEVA), which surged 4.60% after news that the firm was set for a major layoff in Israel and the U.S. General Electric (NYSE:GE) rose 1.38% and technology manufacturer ABB Ltd (NYSE:ABB) increased 0.63%.
Meanwhile Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) was down 0.18% while Nokia (HE:NOKIA) Corp slipped 0.20% and Chinese microlender Qudian Inc (NYSE:QD) decreased 13.54%.
In economic news, the U.S. composite purchasing managers index (PMI) data comes out at 9:45 AM ET (2:45 PM GMT).
Stocks in Europe were up. Germany’s DAX surged 94 points or 0.73% while in France the CAC 40 increased 37 points or 0.71% and in London, the FTSE 100 inched forward two points or 0.03%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 rose 30 points or 0.85% while Spain’s IBEX 35 was up 85 points or 0.85%.
In commodities, gold futures slipped 0.35% to $1,287.66 a troy ounce while crude oil futures increased 1.29% to $58.77 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rallied 0.02% to 93.06.