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 The volatility that marked the second half of 2007 showed itself again Thursday after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and a weak reading on big-ticket manufactured items. The major indexes each lost more than 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which dropped nearly 200 points.
While a rebound might not be unexpected after a sharp, single-session pullback, economic data will likely determine whether any recovery holds.
The Commerce Department is expected to weigh in after the opening bell with a report on new home sales for November; Wall Street expects the reading to be weak, as was the case for October.
Investors are also awaiting release of the Chicago purchasing managers index of December manufacturing activity in the Midwest, considered a precursor of the national Institute for Supply Management report being released next Wednesday.
The mix of economic data are important as Wall Street is eager to determine the degree to which weakness in the housing and financial sectors is tugging at the overall economy and whether the economy is likely to tip into recession.
Early Friday, Dow futures rose 25, or 0.19 percent, to 13,484. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.20, or 0.28 percent, to 1,494.00 and Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 3.25 percent, or 0.15 percent, to 2,134.75.
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 Friday is Wall Street's second-to-last trading session of the year.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 4.17 percent from 4.19 percent late Thursday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Light, sweet crude fell 13 cents to $96.49 per barrel in electronic trading ahead of the start of floor trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.65 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.45 percent, Germany's DAX index slipped 0.15 percent, and France's CAC-40 slid 0.33 percent.
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On the Net:
New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com/
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com/
[Associated Press; By TIM PARADIS]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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