U.S. stock index futuresheld their gains Friday a day after the Federal Reserve's decision to launch another round of quantitative easing, and as investors largely overlooked a batch of mixed economic reports.
Retail sales climbed for a second monthin August, gaining 0.9 percent, lifted by automobiles and high gasoline prices, according to the Commerce Department. Economists had expected an increase of 0.7 percent.
And the consumer prices index rose 0.6 percent in August, the biggest gain in three years, according to the Labor Department. The figure was slightly above expectations for a 0.5-percent gain.
Meanwhile, industrial production declined 1.2 percent in August, the biggest fall since March 2009, according to the Federal Reserve. Analysts had expected industrial output to be flat.
Stocks rallied to multi-year highs in the previous sessionafter the Fed launched another aggressive stimulus program, saying it will buy $40 billion of mortgage debt each month and continue to purchase assets to improve the jobs market. (Read More: If I Were Bernanke, I Would Resign—Marc Faber)
European shares traded sharply higherfollowing the news. Gold hit a six-month highand the euro rallied to a new four-month high against the dollar. (Read More: Gold Set for Even Bigger Bernanke Boost)