Stock futures edge up, buoyed by deal activity

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Friday, getting a lift from news that General Electric will sell nearly all of its real estate portfolio to investors for $26.5 billion in the latest of a spate of recent deal activity.

The GE move is the biggest commercial real estate deal since Blackstone's acquisition of office landlord Equity Office Properties Trust in 2007 for $39 billion, including debt. GE shares jumped 6.3 percent to $27.36 before the opening bell.

The S&P 500 <.SPX> is up 1.2 percent for the week and is on track for a second straight week of gains, helped by a pickup in merger activity. Investors are also bracing for a pickup in quarterly results after the corporate earnings season kicked off earlier this week.

Data expected at 8:30 a.m. EDT includes import prices for March, which are expected to decline 0.3 percent.

Consumers flocked to Apple Inc's stores around the world on Friday to get the first close-up look at the tech giant's smartwatch, which the company expects will be its next runaway hit. Still, Apple shares were off 0.5 percent at $125.99 in premarket trading.

PayPal, eBay Inc's electronic payments division, said the two firms had agreed that eBay would not reduce the volume of transactions it channels through PayPal, while continuing to get better rates for its merchants for five years after the two split.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)