Stocks look to extend rally

U.S. stock futures were modestly higher Friday, ahead of a key reading on employment.

At 6:42 a.m. ET, Dow Jones industrial average, Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were up slightly.

Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance and give an indication of how markets may open when trading begins in New York.

Jobs: The mood on Wall Street is likely to be influenced by the Labor Department's monthly employment report, due out at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Employers are expected to have cut 540,000 jobs in January after dropping 524,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, is expected to have risen to 7.5% from 7.2% the previous month.

Stimulus: The Senate is set to resume deliberations Friday morning over a nearly $900 billion stimulus bill. Lawmakers generally agree that an economic recovery package is required but there are concerns about the size of the bill and some of its measures.

President Obama is also expected to name members of his Economic Recovery Advisory Board Friday. The panel, which will be headed by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker and made of a mix of leaders from the business world, will advise the White House on reviving the ailing U.S. economy.

Bank bailout: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is expected to detail the Obama administration's strategy for reviving the banking system on Monday. Several options have been under discussion, including a government-funded "bad bank" that would remove toxic assets from bank balance sheets.

Corporate results: After the market close Thursday, News Corp. (NWS, Fortune 500) reported a quarterly loss of $8.4 billion. Excluding charges, the media conglomerate reported earnings of 12 cents per share, which was short of Wall Street's estimates.

Toyota Motor (TM) warned of a much bigger yearly loss Friday, hurt by a sharp decline in automotive sales around the globe. The Japanese firm said it expects to report an operating loss of $4.95 billion when it reports its full-year results in March.

World markets: Global stocks mostly rose, boosted by hopes that the U.S. was close to taking more steps to bolster its economy. In Asia, the Nikkei and Hang Seng rallied. Stocks in London, Paris and Frankfurt were modestly higher in early trading.

Oil prices retreated towards $40 a barrel Friday, falling $1.05 to $40.12 a barrel in NYMEX electronic trading.

In currency trading, the dollar was little changed versus both the euro and the British pound, and was slightly weaker versus the yen.