Stock rally may have legs
Tech-heavy Nasdaq aims to extend winning streak to five straight sessions; Paulson speech on deck.
LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks looked set to extend their rally Friday, although a report on the battered housing sector could pressure sentiment.
At 5:06 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were slightly higher and pointing to a positive start on Wall Street.
Stocks rallied Thursday, led by strong gains in the tech sector. The Nasdaq has racked up gains the past four sessions, while the Dow and S&P 500 have advanced for the past two sessions.
On the agenda Friday are a report on housing starts. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is also due to speak about the housing and the credit crunch.
Companies to watch include Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500), which responded late Thursday to activist investor Carl Icahn's plan to unseat the company's board. Icahn has launched a battle for control of Yahoo's board in the hopes of rekindling takeover talks with Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500).
In global trade, Asian stocks finished mostly higher, although Japan's Nikkei dipped. European markets climbed in morning trading. 
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