U.S. futures higher after data, Fed; Dow Jones up 0.28%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Friday, following positive U.S. economic data and as market sentiment strengthened after the Federal Reserve announced a new round of quantitative easing to boost growth.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.28% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.27% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.31% gain.

Official data showed that U.S. consumer price inflation rose more-than-expected in August, ticking up 0.6% after a flat reading the previous month, while core consumer price inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.1%, less than the expected 0.2% increase, following a 0.1% rise the previous month.

A separate report showed that U.S. retail sales increased by 0.9% in August, beating expectations for a 0.7% rise, while core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, rose 0.8%, more than the expected 0.6% increase.

Sentiment broadly strengthened after the Fed announced on Thursday that it would buy USD40 billion of mortgage-backed securities every month and would keep buying them until the job market improves.

The bank also said it expects to keep short-term interest rates at record low levels through at least mid-2015, six months longer than previously anticipated.

Commodity-linked stocks were expected to be active, following a surge in global oil and mining companies. Freeport-Mcmoran Copper & Gold saw shares jump 2.06% in pre-market trade, while Alcoa advanced 1.77%.

U.S. lenders were also slated to move higher as world banks were boosted by the Fed announcement. Pre-market, Citigroup shares were up 1.48%, while Bank of America jumped 1.81%.

Meanwhile, Staples was likely to be in focus after Fortune reported several private equity firms, including Bain Capital, were considering a buyout offer for the office retailer. The news sent shares in the company up 3.68% in early trading.

Elsewhere, Home Depot added 0.33% pre-market, even as the world's largest home improvement chain said it will close all seven of its big box stores and cut 850 jobs in China, as the retailer changes its focus in the Chinese market to online and specialty stores.

Other stocks in focus included Western Digital, up 2.16% in early trading, after the world's largest storage-drive maker cut its forecast for the current quarter on muted demand for hard disk drives.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply higher. The EURO STOXX 50 jumped 1.70%, France’s CAC 40 rallied 1.84%, Germany's DAX climbed 1.16%, while Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 1.33%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 2.90%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged 1.83%.

Later in the day, the University of Michigan was also to produce preliminary reports on consumer sentiment and inflation expectations.