Stocks are in 'no man's land'

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were poised to open slightly higher Friday, as commodities continue to gain ground.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX), and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were all up modestly ahead of the opening bell. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance.

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"We are kind of in a no man's land," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James. He expects economic data to remain mixed in the short term, which will keep investors on edge.

A report from the government released Friday showed that consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 3.2% in April, with the bulk of increases coming from higher gas prices.

Stocks were getting some support from commodities, which were trending higher for a second day.

Gold futures for June delivery rose 0.1% to $1,508.80 an ounce. And silver futures for July delivery rose 2.5% to $35.66 an ounce.

Oil for June delivery gained 1.5% to $100.40 a barrel.

During the depths of the financial crisis, "you had a lot of people piling into commodities on fears of higher inflation, and it fed on itself," said Brown. "We are going to see this volatility continue for a while."

Stocks followed commodities higher Thursday.

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Meanwhile, gas prices ticked lower Friday, but remain within spitting distance of $4 a gallon, according to AAA. Higher gas prices are a "major restraint" for the economy, said Scott, noting that "it is going to keep growth somewhat slower than it would be otherwise."

Investors will also get the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment survey at 9:55 a.m. ET. Consumer sentiment is expected to edge lower to 69.5.

Companies: Shares of Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) were down 6% in premarket trade after the company offered up more information about how it restructured Alipay. Yahoo was the worst performer on the S&P 500 Wednesday as investors grew cautious after a regulatory filing raised questions about the value of Yahoo's China-based assets.

Currencies: The dollar fell against the euro and the Japanese yen, but rose very slightly against the British pound.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury was little changed, with the yield at 3.23%.

World markets: European stocks were higher in mid-day trading. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5%, the DAX in Germany ticked up 0.1% and France's CAC 40 added 0.4%.

Asian markets ended the session mixed. The Shanghai Composite rose 1% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.9%, while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.7%.