Indications: Stock futures rise as investors pine for payrolls

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) � U.S. stock-index futures added to their advance Friday after the January nonfarm payrolls report bolstered thinking that the lackluster recovery remains on track.

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Stock futures added to gains after the government reported the U.S. economy created a less-than-expected 157,000 jobs in January but added more the prior two months than initially thought.

The unemployment rate edged up 0.1% to 7.9%.

Up more than 70 points before the Labor Department�s report, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJH3 rose 111 points, or 0.8%, to 13,908, while S&P 500 Index futures SPH3 gained 7.9 points, or 0.5%, to 1,501.20.

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Nasdaq 100 futures NDH3 rose 21.75 points, or 0.8%, to 2,746.7.

Other data on tap include the Markit flash January PMI reading at 9 a.m. Eastern, while the ISM January factory index at 10 a.m. is forecast to rise slightly to 51 from 50.2 in December.

The University of Michigan�s final January consumer sentiment reading at 9:55 a.m. is expected to rise marginally to 71.5 from a preliminary reading of 71.3.

Also at 10 a.m. Eastern, construction spending for December will be released and economists expect it to increase by 0.8%, up from an unexpected fall of 0.3% in the prior month.

U.S. stocks lost ground Thursday, but major indexes still scored some of their strongest January performances in years. See: U.S. stock market's fall trims January gains.

Reuters Michael Dell Chairman and CEO of Dell Inc. arrives at the launch event of Windows 8 operating system in New York, October 25, 2012.

The Dow DJIA rose 5.8% for the month, its strongest January since 1994 and its biggest monthly gain since October 2011. The S&P 500 SPX scored its biggest January advance since 1997 with a 5% gain, while the Nasdaq Composite COMP posted a 4% rise for the month.

Mattel Inc. MAT on Friday reported fourth-quarter results that fell short of Wall Street forecasts. The world�s largest toy maker reported per-share earnings of $1.12 after stripping out a $137.8 million litigation charge, while sales rose 4.7% to $2.26 billion. See: Mattel profit drops 17% on litigation charge.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of $1.15 a share on revenue of $2.29 billion.

Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM � shares gained 0.6% after the world�s biggest publicly traded oil company reported a larger-than-expected 6% rise in fourth-quarter profit.

Chevron Corp. CVX �added 0.4% after it reported a fourth-quarter profit rise of 42%.

Shares of computer maker Dell Inc. DELL rose 4.8% in premarket trading. The company is close to an agreement to sell itself to a consortium led by founder and Chief Executive Michael Dell and private equity group Silver Lake Partners, Reuters reported Friday. The report said an announcement could come as soon as Monday. See: Dell buyout could come as soon as Monday: report.

European Union regulators on Friday said they had received proposals from Google Inc. GOOG responding to demands that the world�s largest Internet search firm take steps to address worries it was squeezing out rivals. See: EU receives Google antitrust-concern proposals.

European stocks traded higher as a final round of January purchasing-managers� index readings indicated the region�s manufacturing contracted at its slowest pace in 11 months. That has boosted expectations the euro-zone economic downturn has at least bottomed. See: Most Europe stocks up ahead of U.S. payrolls.

The Netherlands on Friday nationalized SNS Reaal bank after unsuccessful talks with private investors about a capital boost failed. The Dutch government moved to limit the cost to taxpayers, ordering Dutch banks to pay a one-time levy of 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion) in 2014. See: ING welcomes Dutch-based SNS Reaal nationalization.