1. Stocks are on a roll: Will a major rebound by U.S. stocks extend to a sixth consecutive trading session?

U.S. stock futures were pointing higher on Friday.

European markets gained in early trading, with some indexes up by more than 1%. Many Asian markets were closed for Lunar New Year celebrations, but Japan's Nikkei added 1.2%.

On Thursday, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose between 1.2% and 1.6%.

"The S&P 500 has been up more than 1% in four of the last five trading days. This is a feat that has not occurred since October 2011," noted Mike O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading.

2. It ain't happening: A Chinese takeover of the Chicago Stock Exchange has been blocked by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The deal was first announced in February 2016, and had been in regulatory limbo for two years.

The SEC said it was unable to obtain all the information it needed from the Chinese-led group of investors, including details about how some of the entities involved in the deal were funded. The regulator said this "raises significant doubts" that it would be able to monitor the exchange if the deal went through.

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3. Earnings and economics: Many top consumer brands will post quarterly financial results on Friday.

Investors will hear from Campbell Soup (CPB), Coca-Cola (KO), Deere (DE), J.M. Smucker (SJM) and Kraft Heinz (KHC).

Shares in Renault (RNLSY) were up 3% in Paris after the automaker posted its annual results.

The U.S. Census Bureau will publish data on January housing starts at 8:30 a.m. ET. The University of Michigan will release its preliminary consumer sentiment data for February at 10:00 a.m.

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4. Coming this week:

Friday — Earnings from Coca-Cola (KO), Campbell Soup (CPB), Kraft Heinz (KHC), Smucker (SJM) and Deere (DE)