NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks looked to have a rough start in early trading after the dollar showed weakness, but statistics showing the U.S. trade gap decreased in March provided some support.

U.S. stock futures were down in early trading, indicating a lower open for U.S. markets, as the dollar fell to eight-month lows against the yen and the euro.

The Commerce Department reported that imports outstripped exports by $62 billion, down from the revised $65.6 billion in February. (Full story.) Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a $67 billion trade gap in March.

China reported that its trade surplus in April jumped to $10.5 billion from $4.6 billion a year earlier, well above the forecast of $9 billion in the most recent period. The gap is seen increasing U.S. political pressure on China to allow its yuan to appreciate against the dollar.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the Chinese government is more likely to let the yuan rise because of the Treasury Department's decision not to label China as a currency manipulator.

Just after the market opens, the University of Michigan is due to release its consumer confidence index for May. Economists forecast that index fell to 86 from 87.4 in April.

Treasury prices were little changed, leaving the yield on the benchmark 10-year note near the 5.15 percent level reached late Thursday.

One positive for stocks is that oil prices were down on supply concerns after the sharp rise Thursday.

The June light crude futures contract for NYMEX was down 59 cents to $72.73 in electronic trading, while the June contract for Brent crude lost 60 cents to $72.83.

Major markets in Asia closed lower Friday as the weaker dollar drove up the price of Asian exports to the world's largest market. Major European markets were down in early trading. European steel manufacturer Mittal Steel (Research), the world's largest, obtained U.S. antitrust clearance for its bid to acquire rival Arcelor. It also announced lower earnings in the most recent period. Its shares were up in early trading.

In corporate news, The New York Times reported that GlaxoSmithKline (Research) has sent letters to doctors warning that its antidepressant drug Paxil appears to increase the risk of suicide attempts in some young adults, according to data from clinical trials.

Microsoft (Research) CEO Steve Ballmer said late Thursday it could take five years for the software leader to grab a bigger slice of the lucrative online advertising market dominated by Google (Research) and Yahoo! (Research).

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