Stock futures higher as GE, BofA profits top view

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures were higher on Friday after quarterly profits from General Electric Co and Bank of America Corp topped estimates as earnings season heated up.

* The three major indexes are up seven out of the past eight sessions, despite some earnings missteps, including from technology giant Google Inc , which said late Thursday that adjusted earnings missed expectations for the first time in two years on a spike in expenses.

* GE reported second-quarter profit rose for the first time in nine quarters. Shares of the Dow component rose 2.7 percent to $15.66 in premarket trading. For details, see

* Bank of America posted quarterly income that beat expectations but was down from a year ago. Shares slid 1.3 percent to $15.19.

* Citigroup Inc was slated to come out later Friday. Investors were closely watching earnings reports for insight into how corporations are faring as the economy faces headwinds in its recovery.

* Toymaker Mattel Inc posted weaker-than-expected profit Friday morning.

* Goldman Sachs Group Inc put the financial sector further in view after it agreed to settle a U.S. civil case. Its shares rose 5.9 percent to $153.85 before the bell.

* S&P 500 futures were up 3.8 points and slightly above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 18 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 4 points.

* Economic indicators on tap for Friday include consumer price data for June, which is expected to rise slightly, and the preliminary Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, which is expected to show consumer sentiment edging slightly lower in July from June.

* The read on consumer sentiment is expected to come in at 74.5 in July, down modestly from the reading of 76.0 in the previous month. June consumer prices, excluding food and energy, are seen rising 0.1 percent, the same as in May.

* U.S.-listed shares of BP Plc slid 1 percent to $38.54 before the bell after the company said it had halted the spew of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, at least temporarily.

* Stress tests on European banks should not reveal any "catastrophes" but the reviews should be tough, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers was quoted as saying.

* The U.S. Congress approved the broadest overhaul of financial rules since the Great Depression on Thursday and sent it to U.S. President Barack Obama to sign into law.

* European stocks were higher Friday morning, with BP among the top gainers, while Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> ended down nearly 3 percent as investors worried the yen could rise further toward 15-year highs against the dollar.

* U.S. stocks were lower for most of Thursday's session, though they later rebounded after the Goldman settlement and BP's success with its well.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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