NEW YORK (
TheStreet) -- Stock futures pointed to a higher open Friday as
3Par(
PAR) accepted
Dell's(
DELL) offer to acquire the data storage company for $1.8 billion, or $27 a share, matching
Hewlett-Packard's(
HPQ) recently sweetened bid.
Investors were also awaiting the latest read on second-quarter gross domestic product and
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on the economic outlook.
Futures for the
Dow Jones Industrial Average were up by 30 points at 9997 and were 29 points above fair value. Futures for the
S&P 500 were ahead by 3 points at 1048 and were 2 points above fair value, and
Nasdaq futures were higher by 9 points and were 9 points above fair value.
If you can't see this chart, your browser doesn't understand IFRAME. However, we'll stilllinkyou to the chart.Stocks weakened Thursday, and the Dow finished below 10,000 for the first time since July 6 as weak regional manufacturing data overshadowed a lower-than-expected decline in initial weekly jobless claims.