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 Friday's market is likely to take its cues from the Labor Department's jobs report, which will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. According to Thomson/IFR, the report should show 15,000 jobs were lost in March, which would be an improvement over the 63,000 job cut in February.
However, some economists expect that as many as 150,000 jobs were eliminated. The economy has given up jobs every month since the start of the year and many economists believe the U.S. already has entered a recession.
The worries about a weakening economy have put heavy pressure on the stock market in recent months and could lead to more selling on Friday.
Thomson/IFR also expects the unemployment rate to increase to 5.0 percent from 4.8 percent in February.
The futures contract for the Dow Jones industrial average gained 16 points, or 0.9 percent, to 12,653. Futures contracts for the Standard & Poor's 500 rose 2.40 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,375.80 and the Nasdaq 100 rose 4.8 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1872.0.
On Thursday, stocks rose modestly after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee the Fed expects to recover most, if not all, the $29 billion worth of loans it made to keep struggling Bear Stearns Cos. from collapse. Bernanke's remarks, in which he defended the central bank's decision to aid JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s buy of Bear Stearns, were calming to investors hoping that demand is returning to the tight credit markets.
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 Other central bankers and business leaders also appeared before the committee and gave the market a soothing sense that they had acted in time to avert a serious financial catastrophe with Bear Stearns.
Dour remarks about the economy by Bernanke earlier in the week left investors with a sense they are likely to get at least one more rate cut from the Federal Reserve, which should further ease their worries.
Treasurys were slightly higher ahead of the much-awaited jobs report, as the yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell to 3.57 percent from 3.59 percent late Thursday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions. Oil futures also were stronger in the early going.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei index closed down 0.72 percent. However, there were gains in European trade, as London's FTSE 100 rose 0.43 percent, Frankfurt's DAX strengthened 0.12 percent and Paris' CAC 40 advanced 0.29 percent.
[Associated Press; By LESLIE WINES]
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