Futures boosted by energy companies : US Business

By Kristina Cooke

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose on Friday, after upscale department store chain Nordstrom Inc reported earnings that topped Wall Street estimates and higher oil prices boosted energy companies.

Investors awaited data on consumer sentiment and housing that could shed more light on the health of the U.S. economy.

In Europe, shares rose to a four-month high, lifted by pharmaceutical and energy shares. In Asia, shares ended mixed.

While the weak U.S. economy took its toll on Nordstrom, investors had expected worse as shoppers' ability to spend has been squeezed by high gasoline prices, rising food costs and a deteriorating housing market. Nordstrom shares rose more than 2 percent after the bell on Thursday.

U.S. energy companies such as Chevron Corp climbed in Frankfurt as oil rose above $126 a barrel.

"There seems to be a quiet confidence that the worst of the credit crisis is over. (The) economic numbers are leaning towards (the view) that the economy is still alive and it's not the end of the consumer," said Andre Bakhos, president of Princeton Financial Group in Princeton, New Jersey.

S&P 500 futures rose 2.2 points, above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.

Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 13 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 2.25 points.

Among technology companies, Yahoo said it had struck an advertising deal with Britain's WPP Group that will let WPP buy ads on Yahoo's online ad exchange. In addition, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters Yahoo and Google Inc are continuing to talk about a search advertising partnership, but an announcement was not imminent. Shares of Yahoo rose 1.3 percent in Frankfurt .

JPMorgan Chase & Co shares rose 1.7 percent in Europe . JPMorgan expects to liquidate or spin off much of the asset management arm of Bear Stearns Cos Inc after it takes over Bear next month, people familiar with the situation said Thursday.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers preliminary sentiment index is due at 9.55 a.m. EDT The index is expected to have edged lower to 62.0 in early May from 62.6 in April, for the lowest reading since March 1982, when the economy was plagued by slow growth and high inflation.

Data on housing starts are due at 8.30 a.m. EDT.

U.S. stocks rose in light trading on Thursday, pushing the S&P 500 to its highest close since January, as a pullback in oil prices eased concerns about inflation and a battle to control Yahoo helped the tech sector.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)

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