Stock futures edge lower after gains, ahead of data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes edged lower on Friday after the S&P managed its biggest gain in two weeks and ahead of reports on consumer mindset and a gauge of leading economic indicators.

Investors awaited the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan surveys' August preliminary consumer sentiment index, due at 9:55 a.m. (1355 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 72.4 compared with 72.3 in the final July report.

Shortly thereafter at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) the Conference Board releases its report on July leading economic indicators. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a 0.2 percent rise compared with a 0.3 percent drop in June.

The S&P capped its longest run of gains since December 2010 on August 10, boosted by the anticipation of more stimulus from central banks in the United States and euro zone to stimulate their respective economies in September.

The S&P 500 had remained flat in the following sessions, slipping 0.2 percent, until Thursday when comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel reinforced investor expectations for action and lifted the benchmark index to its biggest percentage gain since August 3 and its highest level in four months.

S&P 500 futures fell 1.8 points and were slightly below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures lost 7 points and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 5 points.

European stocks extended gains, with the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares hitting a 13-month high, boosted by growing expectation that the worst of the euro zone crisis might be over. <.EU>

Gap will garner attention after posting higher quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by bright colored jeans and tight inventories, and the clothing retailer also raised its full-year forecast.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd dropped 8.5 percent to $11.24 in light premarket trade after the chipmaker posted second-quarter earnings and said current-quarter results may miss expectations.

Network storage equipment maker Brocade Communication Systems Inc's third-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates, boosted by a 13 percent rise in storage equipment sales, and the company said its chief executive intends to resign.

Technology products distributor ScanSource Inc forecast first-quarter profit well below analysts' estimates, mainly on weak sales in Europe.

Weak shipping rates weighed on DryShips Inc's DRYS.O quarterly results, taking the shine off a jump in demand at its drilling unit Ocean Rig UDW .

Thomson Reuters data shows that of the 468 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings through Thursday morning, 68 percent beat analysts' expectations, about the same rate as over the past four quarters.

Asian stocks rose after Merkel's comments supporting the ECB's efforts to contain the euro zone debt crisis.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak)

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