U.S. stock index futures pointed to a sharply higher open on Friday, as investors digested earnings reports and awaited speeches by two U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers.
Tiffany reported results before the opening bell, that showed 1 percent drop in quarterly sales, hurt by a stronger dollar and weak demand during the holiday shopping season.
Darden Restaurants reported same store sales rose 3.6 percent in the most recent quarter, and boosted its outlook for the full year.
Simon Property made its "best and final offer" to acquire all outstanding shares of operator Macerich for $95.50 a share in cash and Simon shares, an approximate value of $23.2 billion, including assumption of about $6.4 billion of outstanding Macerich debt, a Simon press release said. Earlier this week, the smaller mall property operator rejected Simon's initial $14.39 billion unsolicited offer. Macerich shares plunged more than 9 percent in pre-market trade, while Simon shares edged about half a percent lower.
Amazon gained in pre-market trade on news the e-commerce giant received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to test drones in Washington State. The firm could see some headway on the "Prime Air" service it would like to offer.
