NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks looked set to open higher Friday after a report showed the economy growing faster than expected.

U.S. stock futures turned higher, indicating a higher opening for stocks.

Gross domestic product grew 3.8 percent in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were looking for the initial reading on third-quarter GDP, the government's broad measure of the nation's economic activity, to show an annual growth rate of 3.6 percent.

Third-quarter growth is up from the 3.3 percent growth rate in the second quarter, despite the impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita along the Gulf Coast in September.

The ECI, a measure of employers' costs that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve as an early sign of inflationary pressures, rose 0.8 percent in the third quarter following a 0.7 percent rise in the second quarter.

After the market open, the University of Michigan is expected to release its revised reading on consumer confidence. Economists are looking for the index to creep up to 76 from the 75.4 reading at the start of the month. Another consumer confidence survey by the Conference Board fell unexpectedly to a two-year low when it was released earlier this week.

Oil prices were slightly higher in early trading, continuing Thursday's rally.

The December light crude futures contract for NYMEX gained 10 cents to $61.19 a barrel in electronic trading, while the December contract for Brent crude rose 35 cents to $59.49.

Earnings reports due Friday include Chevron (Research), which is expected to see record gasoline prices in the period lift profits nearly 50 percent. The report would follow a report from Exxon Mobil (Research) that posted record earnings by any corporation in the period, but the jump in oil earnings have also prompted talk in Washington about a "windfall profit" tax on oil companies.

Major markets in Asia closed lower Friday on the Microsoft outlook and weaker than expected results from Honda Motor (Research). Major European markets also were lower in early trading.

Bond prices were higher, cutting the yield on the 10-year treasury to 4.53 percent from the 4.55 percent level late Thursday. The dollar lost ground against on the euro and yen.

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