Futures rise as dollar weakens; data eyed

[May 15, 2015]  By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Friday, a day after a weakening dollar pushed the S&P 500 to a record-high, as investors awaited manufacturing and consumer sentiment data.

* On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 1.08 percent to end at 2,121.1, exceeding its previous all-time closing high of 2,117.69 on April 24, while the Nasdaq Composite had its strongest day since January.

* The dollar <.DXY> also slipped to its lowest in four months against a basket of currencies of major U.S. trading partners, offering good news for companies that have large foreign sales.

* European markets were higher on Friday as bond yields eased after government bond purchases by the European Central Bank.

* Federal Reserve data is expected to show that U.S. manufacturing output gained modestly last month. The data will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET.

* The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index, expected at 10 a.m. ET, is expected to show U.S. consumers were slightly more upbeat in the early part of May.

* Investors have been keeping a close eye on economic data for signs of improvement in the U.S. economy in the second-quarter after growth slowed to a crawl in the previous quarter.

* El Pollo Loco Holdings <LOCO.O> shares slumped 12.2 percent to $25.50 in premarket trading after the restaurant chain operator forecast a full-year profit largely below estimates.

* King Digital Entertainment fell 9.9 percent to $13.5 as the "Candy Crush Saga" creator said it expects forex rates and a lack of new releases to hurt bookings.

* Netflix rose 1.7 percent to $597 after Bloomberg reported that it was in talks with a company backed by Alibaba's Jack Ma to enter China.

* Avon Products  inched up 1 percent to $7, a day after soaring as much as 20 percent on an apparently bogus takeover offer. Avon said it had received no such offer.

* Keurig Green Mountain fell 5.4 percent to $97.50 after Bloomberg reported that the K-cup coffee pod maker would not make available its new cold brewing system in all it is retail outlets until next year.

Futures snapshot at 7:08 a.m. ET:

* S&P 500 e-minis  were up 2.25 points, or 0.11 percent, with 102,003 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 11.75 points, or 0.26 percent, on volume of 15,166 contracts.

* Dow e-minis were up 19 points, or 0.1 percent, with 18,058 contracts changing hands.

(Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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