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Empresas y finanzas

Index futures point to higher Wall St open


    (Reuters) - Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 share indexes were up 0.2-0.6 percent, pointing to a higher start on Wall Street.

    U.S. lawmakers are preparing to pass a $789 billion stimulus package to revive the struggling economy in a victory for President Barack Obama that some warned may have costly consequences.

    The stimulus package is split 36 percent for tax cuts and 64 percent in spending and other provisions, just below the 40/60 split Obama called for in his effort to begin pulling the economy out of the recession that started in December 2007.

    This weekend's gathering of G7 financial leaders in Rome, which starts on Friday, expected to be in focus.

    Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers release preliminary February consumer sentiment index at 1455 GMT. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 61.0 compared with 61.2 in the final January report.

    Soft drink and snack maker PepsiCo reports fourth-quarter results. Follows Coca-Cola results on Thursday.

    Abercrombie & Fitch reports holiday-quarter results and investors are braced for a 2009 outlook that shows little hope for a sales improvement at the teen clothing retailer.

    Wells Fargo & Co's shares slipped 3 percent to $16.30 after the bell on Thursday following the bank's announcement that it will write down the value of a group of preferred securities.

    (Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Greg Mahlich)