LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures rose on Friday ahead of two key reports that will indicate how well the American consumer is coping with difficult economic conditions, as data showed China's economic recovery is still roaring along.
S&P 500 futures rose 5.70 points, or 0.6%, to 1,102.90 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 9.25 points to 1,807.20. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 46 points to 10,448.
Stocks climbed Thursday as investors focused on the positive aspects of new data on jobless claims, the latest of several releases offering hints about the outlook for employment and retail spending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU 10,406, +68.78, +0.67%) rose 68 points, the S&P 500 (SPX 1,102, +6.40, +0.58%) added 6 points and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP 2,191, +7.13, +0.33%) rose 7 points.
The S&P 500 ended the session up 62% from its lowest levels in March.
David Bloom, global head of currency research at HSBC, said it would take news suggesting a double-dip recession for the rally in equities and other assets perceived as risky to end.
"A double dip remains the biggest fear, because there's now so little scope for a policy response," he said in a note to clients, adding that recent data has been encouraging.
Friday features the busiest day for economic reports of the week.
Retail sales data for November are due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The data are expected to show a 0.5% rise, or an increase of 0.4% when auto sales are excluded.
Import prices for November also will be released ahead of the bell. At 10 a.m., the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment gauge for December and business inventories for October will be released.
Also in Washington, pay czar Kenneth Feinberg will rule on executive pay packages at Citigroup (C 3.91, +0.04, +1.03%) , American International Group (AIG 28.93, -0.73, -2.46%) , General Motors, GMAC, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial.
Chinese industrial production accelerated in November to its fastest rate this year, official data showed Friday, highlighting a continued strengthening in the nation's government-stimulus-driven economic recovery.
Boeing (BA 55.01, -0.46, -0.83%) may be active after saying it's getting closer to flying its long-awaited Dreamliner aircraft. Rival Airbus on Friday made a test flight of the A400M military transport plane.
National Semiconductor (NSM 15.28, -0.22, -1.42%) beat estimates on quarterly profit, though the stock dropped during the after-hours session.
Asian stocks were generally stronger after the China data, though the Shanghai Composite dropped on worries the government will take steps to pop a property bubble.
In Europe, miners and ING Group (ING 9.33, +0.43, +4.83%) (NL:INGA 6.29, +0.26, +4.35%) led the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 (ST:SXXP 245.82, +1.93, +0.79%) up 0.7%.
After another upped outlook on energy demand from the International Energy Agency, oil futures rose 58 cents to $71.12 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
Gold futures rallied nearly $14 to $1,139.40 an ounce.
