U.S. futures signal upbeat start; Yahoo rallies

By Amanda Cooper

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged up on Friday, suggesting a positive start to trade on Wall Street ahead of data on housing and consumer sentiment.

Yahoo (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said late on Thursday it had struck an advertising partnership deal with Britain's WPP Group (WPP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) that will let WPP buy ads on Yahoo's online ad exchange. Yahoo said the deal would first involve WPP units GroupM and 24/7 Real Media and its shares were trading up 1.3 percent from their last close in Frankfurt at 17.90 euros (YHOO.F: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). The stock was the most actively traded stock among major U.S. companies quoted in Germany.

With a light corporate calendar, data on housing starts and early May consumer sentiment will likely provide the focus at least for early trading.

By 1010 GMT June Dow Jones futures DJM8 were up 0.19 percent, while Standard & Poor's 500 futures SPM8 were up 0.21 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures NDM8 were up 0.2 percent.

The Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment is due at 1355 GMT.

The index is expected to have fallen to 62.0 in early May from 62.6 in late April, making this the worst reading since March 1982, when the economy was plagued by slow growth and high inflation.

But with stocks having performed fairly strongly this week, a negative reading could have limited impact on the market.

"The market seems to be shrugging off all this negatgive news. If it came in as expected, even though it's bad, I think there will be a limted negative reaction by the market," said IG Index chief markets analyst David Jones.