Stocks look to end wild week on high note

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were set for a higher open Friday, following a choppy week of trading and huge gains in the previous session, as investors reacted to a healthy report on retail sales.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) futures were up 0.7%, S&P 500 (SPX) futures were up 0.8%, while Nasdaq (COMP) futures were 0.6% higher ahead of the opening bell. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.

They were higher in the early morning, then got an extra boost from the retail sales report from the U.S. Commerce Department.

Stocks continued their roller coaster ride Thursday, as all three indexes surged about 4% on positive corporate earnings and positive labor market news.

While some optimism returned Thursday, the major indexes remain lower for the week after several sessions of wild swings, both high and low.

On Monday, the Dow sank 635 points, then rallied 430 points Tuesday. On Wednesday, it plunged 520 points, just to end 423 points higher in Thursday's session. The moves marked the first time in history that the Dow had closed with a net change of more than 400 points for four straight sessions.

Going into trading Friday, the blue chip index is down 2.6% for the week. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is off 2.2% and the Nasdaq is almost 6% lower.

Insiders go on buying spree

As fears of a double-dip recession continue to build, investors will keep a close focus on Friday's economic data, which includes July retail sales and a reading on consumer sentiment.

Economy: The Commerce Department released its July retail sales report, exceeding expectations. The report showed that retail sales rose 0.5%, including and excluding automobile sales.

A consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com were looking for retail sales to climb 0.5%, or 0.2% excluding volatile car and truck sales.

Also out Friday is the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment reading for August, and the Commerce Department's June business inventory report.

Companies: J.C. Penney (JCP, Fortune 500) will report its quarterly results before the opening bell Friday, with analysts expecting the retail chain to post a profit of 11 cents a share.

World markets: European stocks were solidly higher in morning trading. Britain's FTSE (FTSE) 100 gained 2.3%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany rose 3% and France's CAC (CAC) 40 added 2.8%.

The gains came after France, Spain, Italy and Belgium banned short selling of equities in a move to stabilize European markets. Earlier this week, the region's stocks hit the lowest level since the credit crisis in 2008.

Asian markets ended mixed Friday. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.5% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong edged up 0.1%, while Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.2%.

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

Oil for September delivery rose $1.01 to $86.73 a barrel.

Gold futures for December delivery slipped 40 cents to $1,751.10 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 2.29% from 2.34% late Thursday.