NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Raised profit guidance from Ford Motor, the passing of Hurricane Ivan and Texas Instruments' latest news pointed to a higher open for stocks Friday as the trading week comes to an end.

Early Friday, Nasdaq and S&P futures were solidly higher.

Ford (F: Research, Estimates) said it now expects to earn 10 to 15 cents a share in the third quarter, excluding special items, up from its earlier guidance of breakeven to 5 cents a share. The company earned 15 cents a share in the year-ago period.

Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call were ahead of the company's earlier guidance, forecasting earnings of 10 cents a share.

Meanwhile, Ivan caused considerable damage along the Gulf Coast and has resulted in at least 13 deaths. But many of the off-shore oil rigs and Gulf Coast refineries that were shut down as the storm approached land have resumed operation.

Still, prices rose amid concerns that a new storm, Hurricane Jeanne, could threaten shipments of crude along the East Coast. U.S. crude futures rose 25 cents to $44.13 a barrel in electronic trading, while Brent oil futures added 25 cents to $41 a barrel in London.

But John Silvia, chief economist for Wachovia Securities, said he still believes any market rebound Friday was because of relief that Ivan didn't cause more damage to oil infrastructure.

"I think that a lot of it has to do with having dodged a bullet with Ivan," he said. "It (oil) is up, but this is one of those situations where it's not up as not as much as had been feared."

In the tech sector, Texas Instruments (TXN: Research, Estimates) said late Thursday that it has plans to buy back up to $1 billion worth of its shares and will raise its quarterly dividend 18 percent. Shares of the communications chip manufacturer rose nearly 2.5 percent in after-hours trading.

Friday's economic indicator is the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment report for September. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com see the index rising to 96.7 from August's 95.9.

Friday also brings the quarterly simultaneous expiration of stock index futures and options, as well as individual stock futures and options, set for Friday. The so-called "quadruple witching" can lift stocks as investors either exercise their positions or roll them forward right before the expiration.

Tech stocks continued to set the tone for the markets Thursday. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.4 percent, while the Dow industrials managed a 0.1 percent gain.

Going into the week's final session, the Dow is down nearly 69 points, but the Nasdaq is up nearly 10.

Asian-Pacific stocks ended mostly lower, with Tokyo's Nikkei index down 0.5 percent. European markets were higher. (Check the latest on world markets)

Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe,IBM (IBM: Research, Estimates) fell more than 1 percent. The computing company has partially settled a lawsuit over its pension plan for an undisclosed sum; the suit had the potential to cost IBM several billion dollars. Ford Motor Co. (F: Research, Estimates) shares were also lower in European trading as the company is expected to announce plans Friday to close a British plant that builds Jaguars.

Treasury prices rose in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield down to 4.06 from 4.07 percent late day. The dollar rallied against the yen but slipped slightly against the euro. Gold was lower.

In other corporate news, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that a former manager from aerospace company Boeing (BA: Research, Estimates) has agreed in principle to plead guilty to conspiring to illegally obtain documents from rival Lockheed Martin (LMT: Research, Estimates). The newspaper said the agreement will put pressure on Boeing to begin settlement talks of its own with federal prosecutors.

Boeing and Lockheed shares were slightly higher in European trading Friday.