China growth data boost stock futures

Accelerating economic growth in China was underwriting gains in U.S. stock futures Friday.

Dow Jones industrial average index futures rose 0.2%, Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 0.2% and Nasdaq index futures added 0.5%.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 surged 0.7% to close at an all-time high of 1,733.15. The Dow fell 2.18 points to 15,371.65. The Nasdaq rose 23.71 points, or 0.6%, to 3,863.15, a 13-year high.

THURSDAY: S&P 500 closes at all-time high, Dow dips

China's economic growth rebounded in the latest quarter to 7.8% from a two-decade low of 7.5% in the second quarter, helped by government stimulus measures. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose just under 1% on the news and China's Shanghai composite index added 0.2%.

GLOBAL MARKETS: China's economic growth rebounds to 7.8%

Regional markets in Europe tracked higher on the last trading day of the week. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index was up 0.5%, Benchmarks in France and Germany were up by a similar amount.

In energy markets, benchmark crude for November delivery was up 14 cents at $100.81 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped $1.62 to $100.67 on Thursday.