MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks: Futures Rally Ahead Of Yellen, Earnings

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures rallied on Friday, with investors waiting for a speech by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and another set of prominent corporate earnings, after a volatile week when concerns about global growth sent financial markets on a roller-coaster ride.

Futures for the S&P 500 index (SPZ4) jumped 22 points, or 1.2%, to 1,872.60, while those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJZ4) (DJZ4) gained 168 points, or 1.1%, to 16,183. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index (NDZ4) picked up 45.50 points, or 1.2%, to 3,787.

The sharp gains came after a choppy session on Wall Street on Thursday, when the benchmarks fell around 1% at the open. However, they recovered throughout the day, helped by comments from James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, who raised the possibility of extending bond purchases. Bullard isn't a voting member this year of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.

Earnings: Several heavyweights report results ahead of the opening bell. General Electric Co. (GE) is expected to report earnings of 37 cents a share on sales of $36.8 billion in the third quarter, according to a FactSet survey of analysts covering the stock.

Morgan Stanley (MS) is forecast to report earnings of 54 cents a share on sales of $8.17 billion in the third quarter.

Another bank, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) is expected to report earnings of 61 cents a share on sales of $3.73 billion in the third quarter.

Defense contractor Honeywell International Inc. (HON) is expected to report earnings of $1.41 a share on sales of $10.04 billion in the third quarter.

Movers and shakers: Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) slid 13% after the retailer late Thursday warned weaker sales trends first reported in September are continuing.

Google Inc. (GOOGL) slipped 1.4% premarket after the Internet giant late Thursday reported third-quarter below forecasts. Revenue rose to $16.52 billion from $13.75 billion.

SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) slumped 4.8% ahead of the bell on Friday, after the memory-chip maker on Thursday reported a drop in profit.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) slipped 3.4% in Friday's premarket trade. The chip on Thursday reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 3 cents a share, below the 4 cents a share forecast by analysts. AMD also announced it will cut 7% of its global workforce by the end of the fourth quarter.

Fed speakers: Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen will speak on income inequality at the Boston Fed conference in Boston at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren also speaks at the conference at 8:30 a.m. Rosengren is not a voting member of the Fed policy committee this year.

Data: Housing-starts figures for September come out at 8:30 a.m. and it's likely that the pace of home construction picked up last month following a surprisingly large drop in August.

Also Friday, markets will get a fresh reading on consumer sentiment, which will be released at 9:55 a.m.

Other markets: European markets rebounded after the recent market slide, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index up for the first time in nine sessions.

Asian stocks closed mixed, with Japan's Nikkei 225 down 1.4%.

Oil markets took a breather on Friday after crude futures touched below $80 a barrel for the first time since June 2012 on Thursday. Metals were mixed, while the dollar rose against most major currencies.

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