Stock futures point to shares rising; jobs data eyed

U.S. shares are set to rise on Friday, after stress tests for U.S. banks sparked optimism about the sector's future, and ahead of April's non-farm payroll data.

At 4:18 a.m. EDT, futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up between 0.3 and 0.7 percent.

Wall Street stocks slid on Thursday as investors took profits from the technology sector's recent surge, while analyst downgrades hurt telecoms and a tepid response to a government bond auction raised fears about public finances.

But stock index futures rose after the official government results of so-called stress tests were released at 5 p.m. EDT as regulators told leading banks to raise $74.6 billion to build a capital cushion officials hope will restore faith in financial firms and set a course out of the deepest recession in decades.

Shares of several major banks, including Citigroup also rose after the bell, with Citi gaining 6.6 percent to $4.06 after regulators said the bank's capital need was $5.5 billion.

Citigroup shares in Frankfurt rose 13.5 percent, while Bank of America shares in Frankfurt advanced 14.7 percent.

Shares of CBS Corp tumbled 13 percent to $7.03 in after-hours trading on Thursday after the media company reported a surprise first-quarter loss and revenues well short of expectations.

At 8:30 a.m. EDT, investors' attention will turn to non-farm payrolls data from April. The world's biggest economy lost 590,000 jobs in the month, according to a Reuters poll, less than March's tally of 663,000. But it is still likely to be enough to send the jobless rate to a 25-year high, up to 8.9 percent from 8.5 percent.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is likely to report a decline in profits and book value, according to a Reuters poll.

Other companies reporting include Edison International and Applied Materials .

The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares was up 1 percent at 859.68 points, with banks leading, including gains for Royal Bank of Scotland and Commerzbank after results.

(Reporting by Brian Gorman; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)