Pumping to a higher open

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Lower oil could give stocks a lift in the early going Friday.

Stock futures, which predict the direction of stocks at the open, were up in early trading, as oil prices fell following the rally Thursday that took oil above $61 a barrel due to concerns about natural gas supplies.

That rise in oil and natural gas prices helped take U.S. stocks lower Thursday.

After the market close, media and entertainment conglomerate Walt Disney (Charts) reported a more than doubling in quarterly profits that beat forecasts. But shares lost ground in after-hours trading after shares had hit a five-year high earlier in the trading day.

Another Dow component American International Group (Charts), also saw earnings more than double to top forecasts, and unlike Disney its shares gained in after-hours trading.

And a third Dow component, aircraft maker Boeing (Charts), is getting a lift in early trading in Frankfurt, after it beat out Lockheed Martin and the Sikorsky unit of fellow Dow component United Technologies (Charts) for a $15 billion helicopter contract from the U.S. Air Force.

Genetech (Charts), the world's No. 2 biotech firm, announced late Thursday it plans to buy Tanox, in a cash deal that will pay a 47 percent premium for its shares. Shares of Genetech edged up slightly in after-hours trading following the deal announcement, while Tanox's shares soared 42 percent.

Department store chain Kohl's announced after the bell Thursday that its third-quarter earnings jumped 45 percent as it reaffirmed its fourth-quarter earnings forecast.