Stock futures signal mixed start of the year

(Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Friday ahead of the first trading session of the year, but volumes were expected to be thin with few investors expected at work following the New Year break and ahead of the weekend.

Highlights:

* At 6:05 GMT, S&P 500 futures were flat, Dow Jones futures were up 0.07 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.29 percent.

* Oil will be in focus, as prices fell as much as 8 percent on Friday, kicking off 2009 on a weak note as traders bet a late-day rally that drove up prices 14 percent on Wednesday was overdone.

* On the macro front, investors braced for the Institute of Supply Management index, due at 10:00 a.m. EST. The ISM will likely report that its index of national factory activity dropped to 35.5 in December from 36.2 in November, according to the median forecast of 69 economists polled by Reuters. A reading below 50 indicates a contraction in the sector. The reading for November was the weakest since 1982.

* The U.S. government on Wednesday paid out the first $4 billion in emergency loans to support General Motors Corp but a parallel rescue payment for Chrysler LLC was on hold until the new year. Chrysler said it remained in talks with the U.S. Treasury to finalize its own $4 billion loan agreement and expected to receive its share of the funding soon.

* Bank of America Corp completed its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co and Wells Fargo & Co finished buying Wachovia Corp, the latest sea changes in a transformed banking industry facing dire economic times ahead.

* LyondellBasell, the world's third-largest petrochemical company, is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it tries to restructure its debt, a company spokeswoman said.

* Viacom and Time Warner Cable reached an agreement in principle on Thursday that avoided a blackout that would have prevented more than 13 million U.S. subscribers from seeing popular TV shows like "Dora the Explorer" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

* U.S. album sales slid for a seventh time in eight years in 2008 as growth in the digital arena, one of the few bright spots in the ailing music industry, slowed, according to data issued on Wednesday. Total album sales fell 14 percent to 428.4 million units during the 52-week period ended December 28, according to retail data collected by tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan.

* Wall Street ended its worst year since the Great Depression on Wednesday after the credit crisis and a dreadful economic outlook left investors questioning their faith in stock markets. For the year, the Dow fell 33.8 percent, for its bleakest year since 1931; the S&P skidded 38.5 percent; and the Nasdaq posted its worst year ever, with a 40.5 percent drop.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Hans Peters)