U.S. futures edge higher as markets eye budget talks; Dow Jones up 0.11%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Friday, as market sentiment improved amid growing hopes for a deal on the U.S. budget before the debt ceiling deadline is reached next week.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.11% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.06% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.12% increase.

No deal emerged after a 90-minute meeting between President Barack Obama and Republican leaders on Thursday, but talks continued into the night in an effort to reopen the government and avoid a possible U.S. debt default.

Republicans offered to extend the government's borrowing authority for several weeks, temporarily putting off a default, while Obama was pushing to also reopen government operations that have been closed since October 1.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reiterated Thursday that the U.S. will reach its debt ceiling on October 17 and warned that the political crisis is starting to hurt the economy. The comments came during testimony to the Senate finance committee.

Google was expected to be in focus after the Financial Times reported late Thursday that the company funneled USD12 billion of royalty payments to Bermuda last year, a quarter more than in 2011.
Google shares were up 0.17% in pre-market trade.

In earnings news, Micron, the largest U.S. maker of memory chips reported fiscal fourth-quarter sales that exceeded market expectations. However, Wells Fargo & Co. lowered its recommendation on the stock to "underperform" from "market perform", sending shares down 2.17% in early trading.

Time Warner Cable was also likely to be active after it and Univision Communications, a media group that caters to Hispanic Americans, agreed to extend their partnership and deliver more content to Time Warner subscribers. The news sent shares in Time Warner Cable up over 6% on Thursday.

Other stocks likely to remain in focus included JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, both due to report third quarter earnings before the open.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 added 0.14%, France’s CAC 40 inched up 0.01%, Germany's DAX rose 0.28%, while Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.72%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.16%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rallied 1.48%.

Later in the day, the University of Michigan was to release preliminary data on consumer sentiment.