* Google shares jump as China renews license
* Wholesale inventories data for May on tap
* Futures: Dow up 2 pts, S&P 500 down, Nasdaq up 0.3 pts
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates market activity)
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK, July 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged
higher on Friday after recording three straight winning
sessions and as investors braced for the start of earnings
season next week.
Most of the gains in the holiday-shortened week, marked by
volatility and low volume, were driven by hopes that U.S.
corporations will post strong quarterly results when Alcoa Inc
<AA.N> starts reporting season on Monday. Alcoa's shares edged
up 0.8 percent in premarket trade.
Google Inc <GOOG.O> shares jumped 4.5 percent after it said
the Chinese government renewed its website license, averting a
shutdown of its search page in the world's biggest Internet
market. Shares of local rival Baidu Inc <BIDU.O> fell 5.7
percent. For details, see []
Sentiment remained fragile, however, going into the Friday
session, with many investors concerned the global economy could
slip back into recession. Even with the gains of the last three
days the S&P 500 is still down 12 percent since April.
"We are all holding our breath for earnings season to
start," said Kim Caughey, senior equity research analyst at
Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. "Companies are very well
positioned because they're lightly staffed now and are very
productive."
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> fell 0.5 points but were above fair
value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account
interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures <DJc1> climbed 2
points, and Nasdaq 100 futures <NDc1> added 0.25 points.
In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares rose 0.4 percent, on track for a fourth straight winning
session, with banking shares leading risers.
Friday's data includes U.S. wholesale inventories for May
at 10:00 a.m. (1400 GMT). Economists in a Reuters poll expected
inventories to rise 0.4 percent in May, unchanged from the
prior month.
The Obama administration was preparing to unveil a revised
deepwater oil drilling moratorium after a federal court refused
Thursday to reinstate an earlier ban imposed after BP Plc's
<BP.N><BP.L> massive oil spill. BP's shares fell 1.7 percent to
$33.17 in early New York trade. []
Europe's EADS <EAD.PA> put in a formal bid Thursday to
build a fleet of U.S. Air Force aerial-refueling planes,
challenging Boeing Co <BA.N> again for the politically
sensitive deal. []
Equity funds worldwide suffered more than $11 billion in
net outflows in the first week of July, while money market
funds saw the biggest inflows in 18 months amid fears of a
double-dip recession, fund tracker EPFR Global said.
[]
(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)
