NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks looked ready to rebound Friday, after consumer spending and personal income posted stronger than expected gains and employment costs rose less-than-expected, and despite a mixed report from software leader Microsoft.

U.S. stock futures were up in early trading ahead of the latest economic reports, indicating a higher opening for stocks. That follows Thursday's losses of more than 1 percent for all major U.S. indexes following a weaker-than-expected gross national product that also raised inflation concerns.

After the market close Thursday,Microsoft (Research) reported income that met forecasts but on weaker than expected revenue. The company's raised revenue guidance initially seemed to please investors, as its shares rose in after-hours trading, but shares were down slightly in European trading early Friday.

Still software analyst Jamie Friedman of Fulcrum Global Partners said he thinks the decline in Europe might be a bit of a false read, that the Microsoft report only looks better upon further examination. He said he expects Microsoft to help feed a relief rally in tech stocks Friday.

"People are really bulled up on the guidance," he said. "If you listen to the analysts' questions, it was much better than than they had feared."

Consumer spending rose an unexpectedly strong 0.6 percent in March, the Commerce Department said Friday. Analysts expected spending by consumers to have risen 0.4 percent; it rose a revised 0.7 percent the previous month.

Personal income exceeded forecasts with an increase of 0.5 percent in March. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that personal income gained 0.4 percent, following a revised 0.4 percent rise in February. When adjusted for inflation and taxes, personal income was flat.

Employment costs rose a less-than-expected 0.7 percent in the first quarter, the smallest gain in six years, as wages moved up modestly and benefit cost growth slowed, the Labor Department said Friday.

Analysts forecast the employment cost index to be up 1 percent, up from 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter. Concerns about slowing economic growth and rising inflationary pressures have dogged the markets in recent weeks.

Oil prices turned lower Friday, after they rebounded from an early fall below the $50 level Thursday morning to close the day higher.

The June light crude contract fell 24 cents to $51.53 a barrel in electronic trading, while the June contract for Brent crude retreated 28 cents to $52.20.

Major markets in Asia closed slightly lower Thursday, although markets in Japan were shut for a holiday. Major European markets were mostly higher, although Paris's CAC index was off in early trading.

Treasury prices were lower, lifting the yield on the 10-year note to 4.18 percent from the 4.14 percent level late Thursday. The dollar lost ground on the euro and the yen.

In corporate news, the Wall Street Journal reported that a probe into accounting at embattled insurer American International Group (Research) by the company's auditors could now shave between $2.5 billion to $2.8 billion off the Dow component's net worth. The decline in net worth had previously been estimated at $1.8 billion.

The paper also reported that AIG will miss a self-imposed Monday deadline for filing its twice-delayed annual report.

Investors will be watching to see if another Dow component, Verizon Communications (Research), raises its bid for MCI (Research), the company it had agreed to buy for $7.8 billion before it was outbid by a $9.9 billion offer from Qwest Communications (Research). Friday is the deadline for Verizon to raise or abandon its bid.

Shares of Verizon were off 1.1 percent in Frankfurt trading early Friday.

For a more detailed look at the markets before the open, click here.