Wheeling and dealing to the end

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks looked set to open mixed Friday after Apple filed its quarterly report and a spate of deal news capped a year abuzz with merger activity.

Stock futures, which predict the direction of U.S. markets at the open, were mixed in early trading, with a comparison to fair value pointing to a flat to lower opening.

The Dow and S&P 500 futures were lower but the tech-heavy Nasdaq was higher as investors breathed a sigh of relief after Apple filed its quarterly and annual reports.

Apple (Charts) admitted to falsifying documents but said no current executives were aware of the "irregularity" and that its chief executive Steve Jobs didn't gain financially from back-dated options.

An investigation into the matter has rattled Apple's stock recently, but shares rose 3 percent in pre-market trade after its filing Friday.

In deal news Friday, finance giant Marsh & McLennan (Charts) agreed to sell its Putnam Investments money-management unit for $3.9 billion to Montreal-based holding company Power Corp., according to the Wall Street Journal.

AT&T (Charts) made several concessions to the federal government - including selling off some wireless airwaves, offering a basic high-speed Internet service for under $20 a month, and not charging a fee to content providers for two years - in hopes of winning approval for its $86 billion merger with BellSouth announced earlier this year. Approval could come as early as Friday.

Chatter is picking up about a possible private equity bid for Alltel (Charts), the nation's fifth-largest wireless carrier, the Journal also reported.

Stocks finished slightly lower Thursday after some strong economic and consumer confidence news raised fears of further interest rate hikes. The Dow closed at an all-time high of more than 12,500 on Wednesday.

U.S. markets will be closed Monday for New Year's and are expected to be closed Tuesday as a day of mourning for former President Gerald Ford, who died Tuesday.

Overseas Friday, markets in Asia and Europe were mixed. On Thursday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed at record highs.

Oil prices slipped. U.S. light sweet crude for February delivery fell 16 cents to $60.37 a barrel in early electronic trade. Brent crude lost 12 cents to $60.55 a barrel.

Treasury prices fell, bringing the yield on the 10-year note down to 4.68 percent from 4.69 Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar was slightly lower against the euro and yen.

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More market news and futures ahead of the U.S. open