U.S. futures lower, eyes on data; Dow Jones down 0.14%

U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Friday, after Thursday's upbeat U.S. economic reports boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will unwind its asset purchase program later this year. 

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.14% loss, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.16% fall, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.11% decline. 

The Department of Labor said on Thursday that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell by 12,000 to 334,000, compared to expectations for a decline of 1,000 to 345,000.

Separately, the Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% in May, led higher by increased automobile purchases, beating forecasts for a 0.4% increase. 

Core retail sales, which exclude auto sales, were up 0.3%, in line with expectations. 

Aircraft manufacturers were likely to be in focus, amid reports Boeing, rebounding from the 787 Dreamliner’s three-month grounding, is moving closer to a further production increase that would reward investors by freeing up billions of dollars for dividends and buybacks. 

Boeing shares were down 0.16% in pre-market trade. 

Separately, the A350-XWB, the first all-new commercial jet from Airbus in more than six years, took its firts flight on Friday. 

Gannett was also expected to remain active for the second consecutive session as shares soared over 34% on Thursday after the U.S. newspaper chain announced plans to buy television company Belo for USD1.5 billion. 

Gannett was up 0.26% in early trading, while Belo slipped 0.15%. 

Also in company news, SoftBank and its takeover target Sprint Nextel told regulators that rival suitor Dish Network's complaint of a broken pledge requiring fresh regulatory scrutiny of the deal is "nonsensical." 

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 added 0.16%, France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.09%, Germany's DAX rose 0.34%, while Britain's FTSE 100 eased up 0.07%. 

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.39%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rallied 1.94%. 

Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on producer price inflation, industrial production, the capacity utilization rate, the current account and preliminary data from the University of Michigan on consumer sentiment.