(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures advanced on Friday after a government release showed economy lost 345,000 jobs in May, fewer than economists expected. At 8:32 am ET, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures climbed 12.60 points to 953.10. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 106 points to 8836. Nasdaq Composite Index futures increased 13.25 points to 1506.25.A release by Department of Labor on Friday showed U.S. employers slashed 345,000 net jobs in May. Economists were expecting a drop of 520,000 in non-farm payrolls. Unemployment rate jumped to a 26-year high of 9.4%. Consensus estimates were for jobless rate to increase to 9.2%.According to the Wall Street Journal, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp is pushing for a shake-up of Citigroup Inc's ( top management, including replacing Chief Executive Vikram Pandit.Bank of America Corp (Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis has been asked to testify before a congressional committee over as part of an ongoing investigation into the bank's acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.Meanwhile, media reports suggested that Apple ) CEO Steve Jobs is on track to return from medical leave this month.The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said on Friday that global chip sales are expected to fall 21.3% year-over-year to $195.6 billion in 2009.The SIA expects a rebound in global sales to begin in 2010, with a year-over-year growth of 6.5% to $208.3 billion.Late on Thursday, clothing and apparel maker Guess Inc. ( reported that net earnings first quarter net income declined 32% to $32.5 million, or 35 cents a share from $47.8 million, or 50 cents a share, in the prior year quarter. Revenue decreased 9.8% to $441.2 million.Shares of mining giant Rio Tinto ( surged up in European trade after it scrapped a planned $19.5 billion investment deal with China's Chinalco. The company also said that enter into an iron ore joint venture with rival BHP Billiton and will launch a rights issue to slash its debts.Merrill Lynch on Friday downgraded shares of chemical DuPont to underperform from neutral.On the economic front, consumer credit data for the month of April is due for release at 14:00 am ET.European stocks climbed in afternoon trade. At 12:58 pm London time, the UK FTSE increased 68.55 points or 1.56% to 4,455.49. The German DAX and French CAC gained 0.52% and 1.08% respectively. Asian stocks finished higher. The Nikkei 225 rose 99.05 points or 1.02% to 9,768.01. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong advanced 176.76 points or 0.96% to 18,679.53. NYMEX Crude oil for July delivery declined as much as 51 cents or 0.7% to $68.30 a barrel in electronic trading. Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
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