| TRADING CENTER |
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were poised to extend gains Friday after a government report showed surprising strength in retail sales for February.
Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), Nasdaq 100 (COMP) and S&P 500 (SPX) futures were higher ahead of the opening bell. Futures had already been pointing to early gains but they moved even higher following the retail sales report.
Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance and can offer an indication of how markets will open when trading begins in New York.
Stocks have managed narrow gains this week. As of Thursday's close, the Dow has risen in eight of the last 10 sessions and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have risen in nine of the last 10 sessions. On Thursday, stocks seesawed through most of the session but closed with slim gains.
Ahead of the retail sales report, Canaccord Adams managing director David Rovelli said that report would drive near-term sentiment.
"We closed at a new 18-month high yesterday, so in a nutshell, if we get a good retail sales number today, the markets are going to have another leg up," he said.
Economy: The Commerce Department's monthly report on retail sales showed a 0.3% increase. That surprised economist who expected sales to fall 0.2% in February, according to Briefing.com, following a 0.5% dip in January.
The University of Michigan is set to release its preliminary consumer sentiment index for March. Economists forecast sentiment will rise to a reading of 74, from 73.6 in the previous month.
The Census Bureau's report on January business inventories is also due after the start of trading, and economists are looking for a rise of 0.1% after inventories slid 0.2% in December.
Companies: A report by a U.S. bankruptcy court-appointed examiner blamed the collapse of Lehman on the bank's executives and its auditor.
The conduct of Lehman executives "ranged from serious but non-culpable errors of business judgment to actionable balance sheet manipulation," examiner Anton Valukas said in the report.
World markets: European markets were higher in pre-market trading. Britain's FTSE 100, France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX posted gains. Asian shares ended the session up less than 1%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong finished the day with a 0.09% loss and the Nikkei in Japan managed to rise 0.81%.
Cash and bonds: The dollar was lower versus the euro and the pound, but rose versus the yen. The price of the 10-year note fell, pushing the yield up to 3.76%.
Oil and gold: The price of oil rose 72 cents to $82.83 a barrel. The price of gold rose $8.80 per ounce to $1,117. 
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| 15 yr fixed mtg | 3.85% |
| 30 yr fixed jumbo mtg | 5.37% |
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| Markets | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 10,415.24 | 28.23 | 0.27% |
| Nasdaq | 2,236.20 | 7.33 | 0.33% |
| S&P 500 | 1,104.18 | 5.31 | 0.48% |
| Treasurys | 2.76 | 0.11 | 4.03% |
| U.S. Dollar | 1.27 | 0.00 | 0.05% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citigroup Inc | 3.91 | 0.07 | 1.82% |
| Bank of America Corp... | 13.50 | 0.13 | 0.97% |
| Intel Corp | 18.00 | 0.10 | 0.56% |
| General Electric Co | 15.91 | 0.21 | 1.34% |
| Pfizer Inc | 16.77 | 0.21 | 1.27% |
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| Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2010 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones IndexesSM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones IndexesSM © 2010 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2010. All rights reserved. |
