Investors were preparing to take some chips off the table Friday as a week of volatile trading draws to a close.
U.S. stock futures were slightly lower, after the major indexes pushed more than 1% higher Thursday, breaking a 3-day losing streak.
Investors close out the week Friday awaiting a handful of new economic reports, with questions about when the U.S. Federal Reserve will end its bond-buying program still looming in the background.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said producer prices increased 0.5% in May, driven largely by food and energy prices. The measure of prices for unfinished goods, excluding food and energy, fell 0.4%.
The report points to "an even more benign" reading on consumer prices Monday, said Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities USA, noting that the CPI report will be released one day before a meeting of top Fed officials.
After the market opens, the Fed will publish its monthly report on industrial production and the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters will release data on consumer sentiment.
U.S. stocks rallied Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq closed with gains of 1.2% to 1.5%, bouncing back from modest losses earlier in the day.
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In corporate news, Smithfield Foods (SFD) said earnings fell 69% to $29.7 million, or 21 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 28. The meat producer blamed high grain prices due to last year's drought, which pushed up the cost of hog production. Smithfield, which announced last month that it was being bought by Chinese meat producer Shuanghui International, canceled its conference call.
Shares of Restoration Hardware (RH) jumped after the retailer reported late Thursday a quarterly loss that narrowed from last year.
Smith & Wesson (SWHC) shares rose in premarket trading after the gunmaker released preliminary results showing record quarterly and full-year sales and earnings.
Analysts at Credit Suisse (CS) upgraded SolarCity (SCTY), sending shares of the Elon Muks-backed alternative energy company higher.
European markets were pushing slightly higher in morning trading.
Asian markets ended the day with some decent gains, recovering from a big drop on Thursday.
Tokyo's Nikkei index bounced back by nearly 2% after falling more than 6% Thursday. But the benchmark Japanese index is still in bear market territory, down 20% from its most recent peak.
The Hang Seng closed 0.4% higher Friday and the Shanghai Composite index also pushed up by 0.6%.
